


The Girl in the Street — Bonus

by Lion01



Series: The Girl in the Street and its Side Stories [3]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/F, Family, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23714707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lion01/pseuds/Lion01
Summary: Collection of slices of life that are directly inspired from The Girl in the Street. If you haven't read the main story, first you should and then I advise you not to read this because you would be lost and spoiled. For those who have already read the story and want more, you can click on it and start reading!
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Series: The Girl in the Street and its Side Stories [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689304
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	1. Alone (bis)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Girl in the Street](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12250194) by [Lion01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lion01/pseuds/Lion01). 
  * A translation of [La Fille dans la rue — Bonus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23714605) by [Lion01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lion01/pseuds/Lion01). 



> Hi everyone!
> 
> So, let's begin:
> 
> I'll post the last chapter of the main story just afterwards. For now, here is the first bonus/side story. There will be 4 of them in here. Everything you need to know is in the last chapter of The Girl in the Street anyway.
> 
> I'll tell for each little story the genre and the summary with when it is in the chronology. So:
> 
> Genre: Angst
> 
> Summary: You can read again chapter 22 ("Alone"). This is Isolina's POV on the few days Asami "got rid of her". Well, actually it's more what happened with her than her POV, but it is here.
> 
> Now, enjoy!

Isolina was sitting on a chair, static. She was clutching the arm of her little purple teddy bear. She was looking at her feet as if they were going to fall into a bottomless hole and she was going to be swallowed while struggling as much as a statue made of stone.

She had already cried today, a few tears that had been ripped from her, because adults were mean and they would always make her suffer as soon as she started to trust them. No one. She had to trust no one. Lochan had warned her, she had to listen to her and she would never be fooled again.

From now on, she would be strong. She would be strong as soon as she regained her strength... For now, she was just empty. Her whole inner self had been stolen, scorned, covered with heavy black velvet sheets that were too heavy for her.

So, she was waiting. She was waiting, motionless, persecuted without being, apathetic in a masterly impulse towards pain; suffering—this purple cloud which she inspired with each puff and that she couldn't spit, which swelled her frail chest with all the mournful tears she didn't cry, which scratched at the rusty door which squeaked like a mangy dog—was widening and getting deeper.

Footsteps reasoned against the floor, approaching. She did not move.

"Do you want a table for drawing instead of just standing there?" a rough voice asked.

She didn't answer: no will, no strength, no necessity either...

The adult opposite her stood at her level.

"Isolina... I know this is hard for you but are you seriously going to stay in this chair until you change your family? I... You've been with Korra and Asami for a long time, I know you were attached to them but... "

No, I hate them now. A mistake, it was a mistake.

She didn't want to speak with this gray-haired woman who knew them. She wanted to forget as she had forgotten before. It was easier like that. And she didn't want to forget, that way she would remember that adults were mean and that they shouldn't be trusted.

Lin changed her tone, losing that almost gentleness that was so strange in her mouth:

"You can't change it anyway, so you may as well do something else, right?"

Isolina still didn't move. Lin didn't insist even though she was still worried about the kid. She was going to find her a family, that was her job. No personal feelings on this matter. Personal feelings had led them up to that point.

She went back to work, watching the disillusioned and dejected child out of the corner of her eye. Yes, and yet...

She finished her work and returned to Isolina.

"Are you coming? Let's go."

The little girl dropped from the chair, as always, and obediently followed her, never looking up. Lin was more used to the top of her head than anything else, really...

Ah right, because she was carrying the kid around with her everywhere while waiting for making investigations and finding her a house and a safe family. A six-year-old girl who needed police protection... She would have seen everything!

Anyway, so they got back to Lin's home. She was almost glad that Isolina was so withdrawn because nothing in her apartment had changed place. It was like there was no one there, and she couldn't bear to have her den disturbed for even one moment! Still, poor kid...

* * *

A few days later, Lin decided that she was fed up with taking the kid with her. She was tired of seeing her hangdog look, tired of seeing that she barely ate, tired of feeling nothing from her, tired of feeling like a dead child ghost followed her wherever she went! So much so that she really feared that things would remain that way and that Isolina would be miserable all her life, so she had only one solution.

"Lieutenant Chrystal, in my office, as soon as you can."

"Yes, chief!"

About two minutes later, the two women were protected from all eavesdroppers in the police chief's office.

"Are you and your husband still trying to have children?" Lin asked.

"Pardon me?"

"You heard very well."

"And this is private, it has nothing to do with my job."

"I've never said otherwise."

The two women remained silent, then Chrystal couldn't keep it any longer:

"Why this question?"

"I need you for a somewhat special mission."

"You want me to carry a child for nine months to make them a cop whose DNA will allow them to arrest everyone?" she asked, disillusioned. "If that's it, the answer is most certainly no. But I somewhat doubt it."

Lin rolled her eyes even if she liked Chrystal's intensity deep inside. She had a folder slid to her.

"Read this file, I want to give you a key witness."

"What does this have to do with the former conversation?"

"She's a six-year-old child, she's totally unpredictable, psychologically unstable, and the target of a secret organization. So, do you want to see what it's like to take care of a child before the real one?"

"Given the conditions, I'm not sure it can count…"

Lin shrugged.

"Is that a yes?"

"Why not…"

"I'll clear your planning: you have to be with her all the time, understood?"

"Why not put her in a foster family? Apparently, she has already had one," she read in the file. "There could have been a better choice by the way... Who's the idiot who thought it would be wise to make her live with the Avatar and the CEO of Futures Industries to hide her?"

"Me."

"Oh."

"We didn't know she was researched yet, we thought she was a normal child."

"I see… "

There was a new silence.

"Okay, I'll take her. When do I start and when does it end?"

"From now on."

"Until when?" she asked again.

"It's not up to me."

Chrystal raised an eyebrow. Lin sighed.

"You're a backup solution. Isolina will never get used to you. Right now, it's impossible. If the situation changes, we will consider placing her in a foster family."

"And otherwise?"

"Otherwise, we'll have to arrest these criminals as soon as possible and make a stubborn CEO change her mind."

Chrystal smirked slyly.

"I see."

"The kid is on a chair next to interrogation room number 5."

"I'll take care of it right away, chief."

"Good."

Chrystal left Chief Beifong's office and headed to interrogation room number 5, which was even further away than the others and only Lin could see it from her office. There she found the child. She knelt down to speak to her.

"Hi, Isolina. My name is Chrystal. I'm responsible for you for now. We're not going to stay here, it's not super cool. You're going to come live with me for a while and I'll take care of you, ok?"

The little girl squeezed her purple bear's arm harder with her frail hand. Finally she looked up. Chrystal was almost taken aback by the look she received. She didn't expect to be so pierced by frozen spikes of fury and violence. It was as if she was facing one of the worst criminals she had arrested rather than a child. She remained motionless, unable to find anything to say in front of so much hostility.

She heard metal move, then her boss's authoritative voice:

"Isolina, you're going with her. Now. She's your new family. I told you you can't change the past. She'll help you and watch over you. "

The little girl with a colder look than the South Pole raised her stormy eyes to metalbender, her gaze could effectively rival the chief of police's most terrible and coldest glares.

Chrystal was genuinely afraid. She was frightened to see this blizzard furiously and painfully escape from such a young soul. She was afraid that she would attack them. But Isolina didn't do anything. She just groaned and dropped from her chair, lowering her head. Then, determined, she walked toward the exit, as if she preferred to believe that this order was her own choice and that she should therefore leave proudly, her head high.

Chrystal blinked, confused.

"You should follow her."

"I... Okay..."

"She's not easy going. Especially right now."

"I think I got that."

"Try to determine if you can soften her and open her heart a little, if not... it's going to be complicated..."

Lin sighed. Chrystal nodded, then set off after Isolina. The girl was waiting for her at the exit. She obediently followed her to her vehicle. She didn't open her mouth once. Chrystal showed her around, her things were brought to her place before her husband even came home, and what was his surprise when he discovered this young child, sitting on their sofa, torturing the ear of a poor purple teddy-bear.

His wife took him aside and explained the situation to him, signaling that he should play the game and consider that they had adopted her. He really didn't like the idea, he was even very hesitant and wary because of his softness and his kindness. He tried to introduce himself to Isolina in the sweetest way possible but only encountered a wounded wall.

He had the same fears as his wife; his own were perhaps even greater because he wasn't used to so much harshness, so much violence in his daily life. He wanted to talk to his wife about it but he knew it was a police matter and that he didn't really have a say in it. But she still tried to reassure him a little, feeling that he was very feverish concerning this issue.

During the evening, they tried to integrate Isolina, to make her interact with them, but she remained like a resolutely-closed oyster. Several times, the man saw in his wife's gaze this kind of fierce determination which wasn't afraid to lead an assault. Still, that didn't stop them from sharing many looks of disappointment and sadness.

The child refused to speak.

Chrystal almost got angry, or rather she was irritated by a redundant questioning that she couldn't help expressing:

"Do you really intend not to speak? At all? What's the problem? You live here, we'll protect you and help you."

"No one..." a small, barely audible voice that hadn't been used for several days whispered.

"What did you say?"

"No one really wants to help me. Adults are mean."

"Adults aren't mean, not all of them. We're nice, we want what's good for you."

"And love me too?"

"Love you... Yes, love you if you let us do it."

"They said that too. They lied. They abandoned me! No one can!"

"Who? Who said that?"

Isolina fell silent again. That said, Chrystal didn't need the answer. She knew who she was referring to.

So then, the two most powerful women in the world had broken a child's heart? Then again, her professionalism couldn't blame them, they had surely saved her life and facilitated the task of protection assigned to her. However, she couldn't help but see the potential of destruction they had raised and released.

And now? Now, they had some leeway to investigate, but the child... She had seen victims, traumatized people, destroyed people, whose lives were reduced to ashes, she had seen the results, the heaviest consequences at work, death at the end of the road.

She had only one fear: that this error was the sentence to which this innocent child would be condemned forever. She had already lost everything. Twice. What if she never got back to her feet? It was too early to know, and yet, seeing so much darkness, pain and bitterness that were so unusual at this age, she doubted it would ever really go away. Perhaps her past was too deep of a scar now, maybe even an indelible scar...

She fell asleep while thinking about this, but only for a short time because she was awakened by screams. She walked over to Isolina's room and found her crying and aggressively scratching the purple teddy-bear as if she wanted to take all of its fur off.

She tried to approach her, thinking that she could help her, but she didn't manage to reach her. The little waterbender made a sudden movement with her arm which threw a wave of hot vapor to her.

"Go away!"

"Isolina…"

"GO AWAY!"

She threw water again, this time just as hot droplets. Chrystal left. She knew there was nothing she could do, not under these circumstances. However, she stopped at the door, she listened for a long time to Isolina crying without her noticing.

The blue-eyed girl moaned for long minutes. She took a cushion which she hit over and over again against the bed, then tired that it continued to struggle in this way, she pierced it with a spike of ice composed of her own tears.

"I hate you. I hate you!"

She kept crying in her sadness shell, a little calmed down. She still wanted to cry. She wanted to cry in Asami's arms, and that's why she hated her so much. She was alone because she had abandoned her! And yet she wanted her to be here so badly! She wanted to cry, to keep crying all her nightmare in this black-haired woman's arms, with her soft green eyes, her graceful smell of violet; she wanted this woman who had deceived and betrayed her in the worst possible way to support her.

"You abandoned me..." she sobbed again, hugging the cushion she had murdered. "You left me alone..."

And that's how she fell back to sleep. Chrystal had heard everything, if she had it in her she would surely have cried but not knowing how to go about it she preferred to keep her distance and put on her professional mask. She returned to her room.

"Is she okay?" her husband asked, overcome with anxiety.

"Yes. Go back to sleep."

It was useless for her to explain to him. Her husband was infinitely more sensitive than her, especially regarding children. She didn't want to worry him, especially when there was obviously nothing they could do. But maybe she should tell Lin...

The next day, she decided to focus on her case instead. She found the mention of the nightmares, she didn't find how to calm them. She learned everything she needed to know. She couldn't speak to Isolina who was—if it was possible—even darker than when she had met her.

She stayed in her room, sometimes glued to this tortured cushion, sometimes threatening it with a glare and vowing a hatred hardly imaginable to it. Chrystal sighed when she saw her. She really hadn't anticipated this when she accepted this job! In fact, Lin had totally wanted to get rid of this kid! That is, it was normal: it was unbearable to see her in such a state!

During the night she had another nightmare. It was the same scene as the previous time, maybe Isolina would have even been more aggressive if Chrystal hadn't given up immediately. She knew she had to go see Lin and she did the next day.

"Lieutenant Chrystal? Aren't you supposed to protect a key witness?"

"I am, but seriously, what were you thinking when you gave her to me?"

"That is to say?"

"This kid is completely destroyed! What am I supposed do with this? She is closed-minded, completely closed-minded, she's even violent!"

"Violent?" Lin repeated, frowning.

"Yes! What did you do during the nightmares?"

"I would go to her and stay with her until she went back to sleep. She didn't want to speak."

"She doesn't even want me to stay with her and instead she tortures my furniture."

Lin sighed.

"She had a very strong bond with Miss Sato, so she has a little trouble getting over it..."

"She's not going to get over it."

"We can't know."

"Have you ever seen such a young child that was so hurt by life?"

"Yes. And they get back on their feet."

"Or they don't survive."

"It's not for us to judge. She needs someone to protect her, that someone is you, so do your job."

"She needs _her_."

"I won't call Asami. This is out of the question. They've already suffered a lot, everyone has suffered in that story, it would only make things worse."

"Or fix them!"

"We can't protect her…"

"She'll destroy herself from the inside!"

"It's not our job to worry about that. What's wrong with you, Chrystal? I didn't know you were so sentimental."

"I'm not. But I know how to recognize a critical situation when I see one and I'm unable to manage this one."

"Then we'll find someone else."

"So that she thinks she's right and no one will ever love her again and no one can help her?"

"I gave you a mission, do you continue it or not?"

"Yes."

"So, get out of my office and go take care of this kid."

Chrystal huffed, turned on her heels and suddenly left the police station. Or rather, she tried. She noticed that the phone was ringing and that there was no one to answer. So she answered the call.

"RCPD, what can I do for you?"

"Oh, thank Raava, darling, it's you!"

"Lang? What is it?"

"It's the girl! She ran away!"

"I told you to watch her!"

"I know, but she was alone in her room and I just left to look for a book..."

"I'm coming very soon."

She hung up, took a piece of paper, scribbled something on it and, meeting the receptionist, put the piece of paper in his hand saying:

"Call the line on this piece of paper, ask for Miss Sato, say it's urgent and that Isolina has run away. Everything you need to know is on it, I count on you. Above all, you don't do anything else until you get in touch with Asami Sato! Is that clear?"

He nodded, looking somewhat timid, and she ran to Chief Beifong's office in which she stormed interrupting a meeting. The chief of police was starting to get seriously upset by all the fuss and was going to make her be in for a rough time but the lieutenant exclaimed:

"Isolina ran away!"

"Tell me you're kidding…" Lin muttered.

She took her jacket and, without consideration for her interlocutor, left in the direction of her car. Chrystal followed her and they set off for her house.

—

Isolina stopped running, out of breath. To be alone in there had ended up being unbearable. She preferred to be outside, to wander perhaps, alone perhaps, but outside.

She was suffocating, it was as if everything collapsed on her in a monstrous tidal wave. She could no longer find the light. She fell asleep in that darkness between two puffs of drying air. Asami was everywhere, yet she was nowhere. She had abandoned her. Her need for distance and her impenetrable desire to have her close to her drove her mad, so she left on an impulse. She didn't know whether she needed to escape from this prison, or she hoped to find her on the streets, or if she just wanted to flee from her, she who was in her heart and whom she hated so much, whom she demanded so much .

And now what was she doing? She had nothing, she was nothing, she was alone. She was alone like that day when she fled with her hands covered with blood, she was alone like the day she had picked her up. But she didn't want to think about it. So she ran again, she ran like a mad girl in pursuit of her delirium which persecuted her.

She fell. She did not cry. She had no more tears for the pain of her scratched hands, all her tears were for her bruised heart.

She looked up. She saw a tree. A huge tree. A forbidden tree. But she was going to win. She would flee to the top of it and she would win. Maybe she would see Asami like that, or Asami would see her, and Korra would fly to pick her up, or Naga would call her with her benevolent barking, or maybe she would just be alone on top of a very big tree.

But she didn't care. Up there there was nobody, up there it was for people like her, people that weren't wanted. Up there she could keep crying, far from everything, even if the pain was too intense to be far away.

She got to the tree, she climbed without hesitation. It hurt. It hurt everywhere but she didn't care. She stopped several times. She had no strength, she wanted to sleep, but she went up still higher and higher, then disoriented, confused, maybe even frightened, now that she was so high; she stopped. Here. What was she doing there already?

Nothing changed. She was alone. But she began to hope, the time of a tear running down her cheek.

Mum…

She wanted her mum. But she didn't have one any more.

Asami.

Asami was her mum, she had chosen her.

Please, Asami... Come get me.

Then she arrived. And she was no longer afraid, she was just hurting, and she wanted to see her as much as hurt her, because she was mean... And she didn't like mean people, yet she loved this green-eyed woman who was her mother with all her little heart.


	2. Grandparents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami and Korra struggled, but Isolina was worth it. They had just forgotten one tiny thing… What about Korra's parents? They had to meet! (This idea wasn't mine, I believe the person who gave it to me will know it's theirs.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> So, here is the second "chapter" of this collection. So, it's somewhere in-between chapter 23, 24 and 25, I can't remember well. So, to make it clear: Isolina is 6, Asami and Korra are her mums. As for what I say each time:
> 
> Genre: Hurt/comfort & Family
> 
> Enjoy!

"Uh... Asami..."

"Yes?"

The young woman turned away from their daughter whom she had just finished explaining a word she had found in a book to. The latter silently returned to her reading.

"I just thought of something..." Korra said again, a little uncomfortable.

"Yes?" her wife pressed again.

"My parents…"

"Oh…"

"Yeah..."

They both looked at Isolina, and Asami crumpled her nose, before turning to the blue-eyed woman.

"Um... what about calling them?"

"You want me to tell them on the phone?"

"No, of course not, we obviously have to make them meet. But just call them and tell them that we'll come to see them soon? Give them a day to meet if you can."

"Okay…"

For Asami, there was nothing to add. She was more interested in how Isolina was going to react, which was always one of her main concerns. She had made enormous progress while hanging out with others but she was not yet solarized and could only be more or less comfortable with the people she met regularly, which was not the case for Tonraq and Senna. In addition, given the life she had led before, she doubted that she had ever had grandparents. How was she going to be able to explain this to her? Would she manage to feel close to them anyway?

* * *

Asami looked up from her work when she heard a knock on the door. Then, she saw her wife enter delicately as if she did not want to disturb her.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on Air Temple with Isolina? Something happened?"

Asami was starting to panic despite herself. In an instant, she had almost grabbed her things and was almost out of her office.

"No, no, everything is fine," Korra reassured. "I was just passing by."

"You were just passing by?" the businesswoman repeated, confused.

Was that supposed to be an excuse for bothering her while she was at work as well as worrying her?

"I... uh... I got in touch with my parents..."

"So?"

"Well, we won't go to their place."

"What do you mean?"

"It turns out that my father has a meeting here in Republic City next week. I know you wanted to wait a little bit for Isolina and try to guess what she was going to think about it, but I don't think we have much time for that..."

"Obviously..."

"Well, so I invited them both to come and sleep at home. They can get to know each other better."

"Maybe it'll be too much too much for her... Imagine she is withdrawn with them..."

"She hasn't done that for a while."

"There has been no change for a while. Besides, it's not been that long ago. It's only been a few weeks! I know she's happy with us and that allows her to be more open but..."

"It's just my parents. They're super nice and warm. I know my dad's a little clumsy and awkward at times and my mom can be both sticky and distant, but they're nice and Isolina likes nice people, right? Just tell her that."

"Yes, that's what we're going to do. And I mean it when I say ' _we'_. They are your parents, so don't leave me alone with this conversation on my hands! She's also your daughter as a reminder!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just that it's easier for you..."

"Why would that be exactly?"

"Well, she calls you "Mum" more often than me, it obviously means that she recognizes us different qualities, and you're apparently the "responsible and maternal" figure."

"She's just doing this because we talked about what she should call me now. Speak with her and she'll do the same..."

"No it's fine. I like it like that. Well, since we're done, I'm going back. See you tonight!"

Korra went away. Asami frowned. She was convinced that Korra was lying to her and that it bothered her more than she wanted to admit. She wouldn't go as far as to say that she was jealous of her relationship with Isolina—it didn't sound like her—but she gave herself airs of a cool and insensitive Avatar which were questionable.

Isolina was used to certain things. Since she had decided that Asami had to be her mother, she had performed a form of transfer and she called her "Mum" from time to time because of it, but it was not something as automatic as it seemed.

As for Korra, she had not decided that she had to be her mother at first since she was not aware that it was possible to have two mothers in the first place. Therefore, the mechanism was a little less automatic but Asami could see that she tried it from time to time even if she tended to take it back as if she was scared or that the word was not adapted.

Besides, now that she thought about it, Korra was rarely—if ever—around at those times... Ah, this explained that. These two would have to understand each other. But before that, she had to take care of Tonraq and Senna.

—

That evening, the little family was installed: Isolina was on the sofa, cross-legged, Korra was standing in front of her—her index finger beating time on her biceps—and Asami was knelt in front of her: the easiest solution to be accessible in case of need for an immediate hug.

"You know that since Korra is my wife, she's your mum too, right?" Asami began.

"Yes! And I have two mums!"

"Yes. And you know that my parents are no longer there?"

"Yes like mine…"

"Like yours... But... you see, Korra still has her parents."

"She does? But... isn't it just children who have parents?"

Asami chuckled a little. No, definitely, Isolina could never have met her biological grandparents, if she had ever had some.

"No. Most people still have parents when they become adults and they stay with them for a very long time even if they don't see them every day."

"Okay…"

"And when children also have children, then they become their grandchildren and the parents become grandparents."

"Grandparents? Because they are taller?"

"No, because they're older," the young woman laughed. "And that means that Korra's parents are your grandparents now and that you're their granddaughter. It means they're part of your family. Do you think you would like it?"

"But I don't know them…"

"Yes, about that..."

Asami turned to Korra, indicating that it was her turn to speak. Despite herself, the blue-eyed woman was alarmed for a moment, then she recovered and said rather nonchalantly:

"My parents offered to come here next week. Asami and I haven't told them much about you yet, but... that's something that would be important to them... So, I thought you could meet and maybe get to know each other? Well, if you don't mind... too much?"

She was a little feverish in her proposal. She sighed nervously. Asami was doing much better at formulating this kind of things! She didn't need her.

For her part, Isolina remained impassive for a while, seeming to think about the situation.

"But I don't know them... Are they nice?"

"Y-Yes… They are," Korra replied.

"What are their names? How are they?"

In the end, curiosity got the better of the little girl and she tried to get to know her so-called grandparents through Korra. The blue-eyed woman sat with her on the couch and started telling her about Tonraq and Senna, sometimes telling her some funny anecdotes that made her laugh and reassured her. Korra was also reassured and relaxed as the conversation progressed.

Asami let them chat, watching from afar. She was leaving this moment to them, she knew it was important that they bonded without her around. And she was pleased to see them strengthen those links that they had already forged during her absence and that they had almost both forgotten.

And the more she looked at them, the more she knew she didn't have to worry about the mother-daughter relationship that united them. It would never be the same as the one which she and Isolina had, nor would it be the same as the one Isolina had with her biological mother: none of them could be similar, because each of the women who assumed this maternal role was different, but they all had their place in her heart.

Korra still had to be able to realize which was hers and Isolina had to dare to recognize it a little more. The arrival of Tonraq and Senna could only push them further in this direction.

* * *

A week later, Korra, Asami and Isolina were at the dock. A large ship was breaking through the waves—which became more and more discreet as it slowed down.

Korra was posted at the very end of the pier, as close as possible to the sea. She had been terribly excited at first, but she had to admit that the closer the ship got, the more nervous she was. It reminded her of Asami's annoying habit of worrying about their daughter and she didn't really like it. However, she knew that this moment was an important moment and she only wanted one thing: that it went well, that the current flowed well.

On the other hand, Isolina and Asami were located a little further back, closer to the mainland than the end of the pier, several feet away. They watched Korra shuffle nervously. The young businesswoman was having fun watching her, while the child was more curious about the next events.

Asami watched her out of the corner of her eye. She saw at the same time as her sparkling eyes ready to discover new things a slight uneasy disturbance that was latent; her hand intermittently grabbed the young woman's skirt, betraying a slight nervousness to meet this curious unknown who had been told to be pleasant.

Finally, the ship docked. Two people got out hugging Korra as soon as they reached her.

"Mummy…" Isolina said softly in a tone so sweet that Asami knew she was asking for reassurance.

"Yes, it's them. Everything will be fine," she soothed with a smile as she ran a hand through her dark hair. "Give me your hand?"

The young child nodded and took her mother's hand. They walked towards the rest of their family. Senna waved largely to Asami and Tonraq seemed to be in the middle of a discussion with Korra who was explaining something to him with great gestures; it looked like it made him more and more perplexed.

When the young businesswoman arrived near them, Tonraq looked up at Asami and gave her a frank and warm smile while Senna started listening to her daughter a little more and asking her questions.

"I'm glad to see you again," Asami said sincerely.

"Same here!" Senna immediately replied with spontaneous enthusiasm.

"Glad to be able to spend some time with my stepdaughter!" the man from the Water Tribe continued. "We'll have to talk business, by the way! So... um... Isolina, then?"

"Yes."

Asami would have introduced her a little more but she had noticed that the little girl was hiding behind her, grabbing her legs as she knew so well how to do it.

"Isolina, what did we agree on?" she scolded her lightly.

"Sorry, Mum..."

The raven-haired woman crouched down nonetheless, offering to hug her as she always did when the child was not feeling well; the latter did not hesitate a second and accepted the offer. Still, she made an effort and said, her eyes fixed on her mother's hands which held her:

"My name is Isolina and I'm six..."

She was often asked that when she met new people, so it was good, right?

She looked up at the green emeralds and met a smile liquefied by tenderness and pride. The young woman kissed her on the forehead.

"Good," she whispered to her.

Isolina also smiled, delighted to have pleased the young woman. The two adults she had just met introduced themselves and she nodded to confirm that she had heard but couldn't add much. The older couple made no attempt to impose themselves further and spoke with the other adults as they returned to the Sato mansion. Isolina listened carefully. She was gauging the situation. All in all, Korra was surely right: they looked kind and warm. She was fine with them.

—

They drove to the mansion; adults spoke with enthusiasm, especially Tonraq and Korra who shared their enthusiasm to see each other again and to hear from the other about what had happened in their lives recently. Senna had been more discreet and had walked alongside the businesswoman, glancing at her granddaughter from time to time.

Once at the manor, Tonraq asked to take Asami aside to talk to her about urgent matters.

Isolina was a little disturbed and half-tried to follow the young businesswoman, hesitant.

"Where are you going?" she asked, only thinking that it was just too far from her.

"In my office," Asami said, lowering herself to her level. "Why don't you stay with Korra and Senna during this time? We'll be back soon and I'm sure they'd love to hang out with you."

"Okay…"

"You're doing very well," the young woman comforted all the same. "If you're really not feeling well, you can go to your room, okay? But try to spend time with Korra and her mum first. And then, Korra is your mum too, so she'll notice if you are not well and she'll help you."

"Okay…"

"Come on, go!"

Isolina tugged on her mother's sleeve one last time and she offered her a kiss. Satisfied, the child went to the sofa where Korra and her mother were sitting. She climbed on it and settled on the Avatar's legs. She didn't speak for a while, just listening to the sweet intonations she heard from Senna. Her voice was both fragile and assertive, it twirled, clever and sharp. Eventually, the little girl raised her head—which she had previously kept down—to observe the face that accompanied that voice. She didn't see it betray her and she was delighted.

After a while, Senna met her gaze. Her eyes became compassionate oceans, they closed when a smile worthy of a soft grandmother was addressed to her. Isolina was a little surprised, but she tried to muster all the courage she could to return the fragrance of a smile.

She felt Korra's hand rest on her back, as if to support her and balance the structure of her whole frail body. She liked it. Korra was warm in a different way than Asami. It allowed her to relax, to melt in this heat.

"So, Isolina, have you been here for a long time?"

"Yes… But I don't know how long…"

"Is that so?"

She shook her head.

"I had to leave... And I didn't know before either... Say, how long has it been, Korra?"

"You should ask Asami… She remembers figures better than I do. It's been a few months for sure."

"Why didn't you tell us about this before? It's an important decision you made... You could have at least told us that you intended to adopt..."

"Yes, well, it's just… It's a complicated story…"

"Asami said that before she didn't want to."

"No, little puppy, it's not really that she didn't want to," Korra corrected.

"But that's what she said! At the top of the tree!"

"She didn't want to because we couldn't."

Senna raised an eyebrow and Korra continued:

"As I said: a complicated story. But we'll tell you everything one day, we promise. Maybe not now, as Dad is upstairs with Asami."

The Water Tribe woman nodded.

"So, do you like it here?" she asked the little girl, with such delicacy that the child thought of no other option than to answer her.

"Yes."

"Yes? How is it? Do you go to school? What do you like to do?"

Isolina shook her head and Senna was confused.

"She means she doesn't go to school. But soon, right, Isolina?"

"Yes…" the little girl replied after a few seconds of silence, looking down.

"It'll be fine, you know that, right?"

She wrapped her arms around her and whispered in her ear:

"Don't listen to your mother. She's being bad worrying too much like this."

Isolina smiled brightly.

"I believe in you. You don't have to worry. You'll see, it'll be cool."

"Thank you, Korra "

As a thank-you, the little girl kissed the young woman's cheek. Senna was moved by this scene. She noted a few things which she kept for later. Instead, the conversation resumed around what Isolina liked. She praised without moderation the merits of Naga who, lying at the foot of the sofa, came to rest her head on the little girl's lap to be caressed.

When Asami and Tonraq returned, it was time to eat, then sleep, at least for Isolina. The young businesswoman slipped away while putting her to bed, then the adults chatted among themselves, which led them to explain the situation with Isolina, or rather how they got there. However, they avoided diving into too meticulous and oppressive details.

It was on this that their first day spent together ended.

"You see, it went really well in the end," Korra remarked, diving deep in their bed.

"Oh, but I've never said otherwise... Besides, you were more worried than I was about that one."

"They are my parents... Family is sacred. I should have talked about all this before. But it was a delicate situation and we were barely able figure it out ourselves... I didn't want to give them false hope."

"I know."

Asami slipped into the bed next to her wife and kissed her.

"Say... Do you think we could... Mmm..."

"Honestly, I'm exhausted... Between your father and the conversations tonight, I've known better days..."

"Does it affect you that much to talk about her past? Even so briefly?"

"I can't help but think about what I saw with my own eyes and all the horrible images I have in my head..."

"Mmmm... I can help you with that..."

In the end, the two women exchanged a few kisses and a few caresses without going any further since Korra preferred to respect her wife's tiredness. It was only a postponement...

* * *

A few days later, in the late afternoon, Korra got Isolina back home. The latter had spent the day on Air Temple, mostly alone since Korra had been running all over the place. It was a bit the same for Asami who had not taken Isolina to work with her because of the too many meetings that would interrupt her day.

Ultimately, only Tonraq and Senna had stayed at the Sato Mansion during the day. Tonraq had a canceled meeting so he spent the day going round in circles like a caged lion, unlike Senna who had been out for half the day.

She had visited Kya to talk about the latest news and Katara's increasingly precarious health as they had planned. Then she had come back. Once she was back to the mansion, she watched her husband wait impatiently for her granddaughter. No need to wonder from whom Korra got her impulsive and rash character…

"Tonraq, stop going round in circles, they'll be back soon."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You love this little girl. A real softie, Grandpa."

"Not at all!"

"Oh you are. But it's so lovely."

"I'm not _lovely_ ," he retorted in an even lower voice than usual.

Senna shook her head frivolously but couldn't add anything since Korra arrived leading Naga inside the mansion. Isolina was on the big white beast and jumped to the ground as soon as the threshold was crossed. The woman from the Southern Water Tribe smiled imperceptibly when she saw her husband quiver slightly but made no comment.

Korra barely paid attention to them, blurting a tired "Dad... Mom..." to them before collapsing into the couch. Isolina walked past them, offered them a smile and a slight wave, then climbed onto the blue-eyed woman claiming that she hadn't had enough attention today and that she wanted to practice bending.

"Not this evening, little puppy... I'm exhausted... Don't you want to play with Naga instead?"

"But I already played with Naga yesterday! And the day before yesterday! It's been a while since we last waterbent…"

"Ugh..." the young woman only managed to say knowing that she had no argument to fight the little girl's stubbornness.

"I can train with you!" Tonraq offered imposingly, a brilliant smile on his lips complimenting his build of bull-deer. "What should we do? A little fight? Not seriously of course!"

"Mmmm... Try to go easy," Korra ended up saying, nonchalantly.

Senna was confused by this response. Did she care so little about her daughter?

"Are you crazy or what? I'm not going to hurt my granddaughter!"

"I was talking to Isolina," Korra corrected.

The other two adults looked at her with wide eyes. The little girl was uncomfortable and preferred to alter her wishes.

"But Korra..."

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to…"

"It'll be fine, little puppy. You'll see, grandpa is strong, even if you are stronger than him."

"Hey!" he protested, believing that she had no right to demean him in this way even if it was to enhance the little girl.

"You don't use the forbidden bending, you know that, huh?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so there's no problem. And I'm there if there is one. Just call me and I'll be right there. Come on, have fun!"

Even if she was a little reluctant, when Isolina saw Tonraq smiling at her and holding the door leading to the garden, she gave in. She blew once and went out. As they walked away, Senna continued the conversation with Korra.

"Forbidden bending? You're not talking about..."

"Bloodbending? I am. Isolina can bloodbend. All the time."

"But that's…"

"Scary? Yeah, I know."

"I was going to say "particular"."

"She's my daughter, what do you think!" the Avatar joked.

"First time I heard you call her that."

"Well, it's still a bit weird..."

"Don't tell me…"

"You still blame me for not telling you about her earlier?"

"No, of course not. I understood that it was a complicated situation. But if you gave us news more often that is..."

"I give you news! I did give you news even while Isolina was our... housemate? I just haven't talked about her much because with Asami, she was a... sensitive topic."

"Mmmm... You look happy anyway."

"We are."

There was a silence. It was a neutral silence. A simple silence.

"I must admit that it's a little strange for us too... Besides the fact that it's very sudden to have a granddaughter who comes out of nowhere and who is already 6 years old, it's strange to see you with her."

"How so?"

"Well, I don't know... I've never seen neither Asami nor you as a mother. You two have always been so busy with your responsibilities and you have the annoying tendency to interfere in world affairs..."

"That's my job…"

"And what's Asami's excuse for that?"

"The world influences her business."

"Right... In any case, I had long since given up on the idea that you could have children. And yet, there she is and you seem to get along so well as if she had been with you from the start, as if you were made to be mothers for her."

"Like all parents, right?"

"Not all... And I'm not telling this to upset you, honey, but I would have rather imagined you as a funny big sister rather than a mother."

Korra hummed.

"Me too... at first. But I didn't take her with us to please Asami or Isolina. I really wanted us to be a family and for Isolina to be able to count on both of us to take care of her and protect her."

"So... why doesn't she call you "Mum" like Asami?"

"Oh... She... Um... She's not really used to it. It doesn't matter anyway. She's still my little puppy."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes! I mean, it's just a title... It doesn't change the fact that she's important to me and that I'm important to her."

Senna hummed.

"What?" Korra asked.

"Nothing. I'm going to watch how your dad is doing."

"All right... Call me if you need help."

In the meantime, she opted for a nap even if she was listening in case Isolina panicked. No doubt she would rush over in this case. She was her mother, after all.

Senna went out and watched Tonraq pretending to be in a fighting position as he had used to do with Korra when she was even younger than Isolina and wanted to practice waterbending at all costs. It brought her so many years back.

She realized how much her daughter had grown and how far they had gone to, all the hardships they had overcome. And now there was Isolina. She was a new step she hadn't expected. That said, she hadn't expected Asami either...

Which didn't mean it was bad! It just meant that Korra still surprised her, that she was still evolving and changing, and now a new extension of her life had been added. And it was beautiful to see. Strange, but beautiful. That was why she wanted to understand. She wanted to understand absolutely everything about the relationships and people who made up this family which her daughter was a part of.

She knew it could only be good and open them up to new perspectives. Korra and Asami looked happy and they had always seen them as a solid couple. After all, they had gone through a lot of hardships together and they had also gone through some with Isolina. Also, she knew that the three of them could only be good together.

Maybe she was too curious, too intrusive. Everyone seemed happy. Maybe she should be happy with that. Isolina had already gone through difficult things, it seemed normal that she needed time to be fully adjusted to this situation.

She tried not to think about it too much and instead looked at the "fight". In fact, she was surprised. Isolina's eyes took on a strange shade as she fought... All of a sudden, everything looked more serious, heavier, even more brutal. However, they did nothing more than hand back and forth balls of water.

Tonraq wanted to play a bit and tamed the water bubble to make it look like a snake that flew to the girl. Isolina was surprised. She was upset.

"No!"

She closed her eyes, suddenly raising her arms and making them fall just as quickly. Thousands of sharp ice peaks plunged onto Tonraq. Knowing that he would not have time to counter them, he dodged them by rolling to the side.

The young child remained frozen for a moment, then she waved her hand and the peaks disintegrated.

"I'm sorry," she said.

She fled to her room.

"What just happened?" Tonraq asked.

Senna shook her head for any response. She hadn't understood everything but she had seen the child's eyes. It was the same look as Korra's after Zaheer, after nightmares or hallucinations. It was incredibly terrifying.

In just a few seconds, Korra was out after seeing Isolina eagerly leaving for her room.

"What happened?" she asked urgently.

"I don't know," her father replied.

"Did you do something special?"

"N-No! I just, you know, waterbent."

"How exactly? Be specific!"

"Spirits, Korra, like I waterbend all the time!"

"Describe the attack you used, Dad!"

"A kind of water snake..."

"Great..." she growled. "I should never have let you take my place…"

Then she left following Isolina.

"But what did I do?" Tonraq asked his wife, completely lost.

"I have no idea…"

Really sheepish, they returned in the living room and waited for Asami to come home or for Korra to come down with Isolina.

—

"Isolina, can I come in?" "

As she had no answer, Korra decided to enter anyway. She saw the young child on her bed playing with her purple plush. She looked at her face and she was sad to see the look on it.

She sat next to her and took her in her arms.

"You okay?" she asked her.

"I'm sorry…"

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"I couldn't control it…"

"You were scared."

"Yes."

"I'm sorry. I should have come with you instead of leaving you with my father. I should have anticipated that it might make you think of things you don't want to think about."

"But he's nice, right?"

"Yes, he's very nice."

"And he's my grandfather... I shouldn't be afraid."

"It doesn't work like that."

"I don't want to hurt him."

"You didn't hurt him. I told you he was strong! And you didn't use your bloodbending, so that's good."

"Okay…"

Isolina stayed in Korra's arms for a while longer, her head resting against her chest and her purple bear in her hands. Then the blue-eyed woman decided it was time to go back downstairs to her parents. She asked Isolina if she wanted to come but since she wanted to be alone she told her that she would send Asami to her as soon as she could. The little girl seemed a little sad that she was leaving her but she said nothing and Korra left.

"How is she?" Senna asked as soon as she saw her daughter coming back.

"She's fine. She'll probably have a nightmare tonight... So don't be surprised if you hear someone screaming..."

"I... I'm sorry..." Tonraq stammered.

"No it's my fault. I should have told you there were things you shouldn't do with her."

There was a strange silence which was interrupted by Asami's arrival. The latter quickly gauged the atmosphere and concluded just as quickly that something had happened.

"What's going on?" she asked, confused and a little worried when she saw that Isolina was not with them.

"Hmm... Isolina wanted to have a waterbending training with my father and it didn't go very well... Something between the fact that he's a man and the type of technique he used, I guess... I told her you'd go see her when you got home."

"I see... I'll go check on her then..."

In the end, Isolina did not want to leave her room for the evening. The adults were a little uncomfortable but continued their conversation as if nothing had happened or almost. They all knew it was an unfortunate accident anyway. And Asami and Korra knew that the night was going to be long...

* * *

After a few days during which Isolina avoided Senna and Tonraq a little, it was time for them to leave. But before that, Senna hoped to have a little conversation with her granddaughter…

So, while Asami was negotiating for an air transportation—she wanted them to travel quickly and comfortably with the new model of airship she had just released—while Tonraq was pilling up their stuff with Korra—but they ended up fighting with loose clothing, they were hopeless—the newly grandmother approached the child. She got closer to her but noticing that she would not have her attention, she started the conversation.

"I'm sorry for the other time with Tonraq... I hope you don't blame us too much."

The girl was a little uncomfortable. She shook her head, unable to face her interlocutor.

"In any case, I was delighted to meet you. Do you think we can come back?"

She shrugged. She wasn't the one who decided this stuff, why ask her?

"Would you like us to come back?" Senna reformulated.

"Why not…"

Apparently, that was all she was going to get out of her... To start a conversation, there was better. She took an inspiration: she could as well attack in the heart of the matter.

"Hey, Mom, I think Dad broke one of your things!"

"Not at all! Honey, our daughter's talking nonsense."

Senna sighed. Definitely, everything was getting in her way! Well, maybe it was better that way... She already had to take care of two grown children and little Isolina was in good hands.

"Tonraq, what have you broken again?" she said, approaching her husband and daughter.

"But I'm telling you that Korra's talking nonsense!"

The aforesaid Korra took advantage of this bickering to slip away and go to her daughter.

"Hi."

She was given a look and a smile and considered it a victory.

"You aren't very talkative today."

Effortlessly, she lifted her from the ground and took her in her arms.

"What's the matter? Are you sad?"

She shook her head.

"You're lying?"

Isolina didn't really have a reaction. Korra concluded that she had hit the nail on the head.

"A little puppy lying is no good. But the little puppy must have her reasons. Do you want to tell me about them?"

The little girl did not answer, she looked elsewhere.

"Are you sad that my parents are leaving?"

"Do I need to?"

"Uh… no?"

"I love you," the young child replied, throwing herself at her neck.

"Isolina... I love you too... What's wrong?"

"I don't like it when there are other people at home... I'm fine with you and Asami... But you said it was important..."

"Isolina, sweetheart, nothing's more important than you, okay? And you know, even if you weren't very comfortable with my parents, they still love you."

"Really?"

"When did I start lying again?"

"Okay... Thank you... Are you still my mum then?"

"Of course! I'm not going to leave you anytime soon!"

Isolina ignored her vague joke and kissed her on the cheek. Korra was very moved.

"Okay. Well… do you think you can at least give them a hug to say goodbye? That way, they'll be happy and that would make me very happy. Do you mind?"

"I'll do it."

Korra put her back on the ground.

"Come on, let's go."

Isolina went to her grandparents and waited a little hesitantly for them to notice her. Once it was done, they smiled at her and she was reassured. She smiled at them too and started hugging them as a goodbye like Korra suggested.

Asami arrived during this time. She joined her wife.

"I managed to plan a flight for them. It should arrive in about ten minutes. Did I miss something? I thought she didn't really like them?"

"Mmmm... No, it's true that she struggles with it. Apparently, she likes being only with the two of us. But I told her they would be happy to have a hug. You were right, maybe it was a little too soon."

"She manages very well. It's not perfect but we can't expect from her to completely erase her past. Maybe it wasn't too soon but she just needs a little more time."

"And she will have some. She doesn't hate them either... I think. So they'll see each other again and I plan to take her to the South Pole!"

"Why doesn't it surprise me..."

"And you'll come with us."

"I can already imagine all the efforts you are going to make to convince me..."

"And I won't give up."

"Oh, but I'm counting on it. You know that I love our "preparations for a trip to the South Pole"."

"Huh huh…"

"Well, I guess we're ready to go!" Tonraq announced.

"The airship should arrive soon," Asami let them know. "Have you looked everywhere, haven't you forgotten anything?"

Not trusting her husband and Korra for having gathered all their belongings, Senna went back around the rooms in which they had stayed. She was assisted by Asami. Isolina snuggled up against Naga, who was snoring in a corner, and Tonraq and Korra watched the arrival of the airship.

It landed when the two women returned. They were quick to load everything, to say their last goodbyes outside with their last hugs. When Senna took her daughter in her arms she whispered in her ear, "I'm so proud of you..." Korra replied with a smile, then they were gone.

"Okay, there you go, only the three of us!" Korra exclaimed when she returned to the mansion.

"And Naga!" Isolina added, immediately more comfortable.

"And Naga," the Avatar confirmed, coming to stroke her pet's muzzle.

"Mom, can we go practice waterbending now?"

"Yes, if you... Wait, did you just call _me_ "Mom"?"

"I'm definitely not going to help her with waterbending anyway," Asami allowed herself to point out, secretly enjoying this moment that she had been waiting for so long.

"You don't like it?" Isolina asked, worried.

"No… I mean, yes! Yes, I... I like it... well, I don't mind... I'm just not used to it..."

"You called your mom, mom, so... can I do the same? You said you were my mum too!"

"Yes! Yes, yes, there's no problem with that! You just surprised me, little puppy."

Isolina smiled brightly at her and Korra melted. She felt like she was promoted up the ladder of naked tenderness, and it was beautiful and delicate.

"I'll take care of dinner tonight, you should spend some time with her," Asami whispered in her ear.

She kissed her on the forehead and left quickly. Korra followed her advice and spent the rest of the afternoon with their daughter. There was no doubt that Isolina would hesitate a little more and that she would still call her a little by her first name but she also did that with Asami. It was just a question of adaptation and balance, since even if they were not united by blood ties, they were united by even more noble and powerful ties: love ties, and it was more than enough to grow and evolve together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what about leaving a review? These little stories are mainly for you, so I'd love to know what you think about them. I'll certainly publish the next one next week and the one after that the week after, and then we'll be done, unless I have something new to give you!
> 
> See you another time!


	3. Strong Desire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isolina and Reena have to hide from the others high schoolers, but sometimes the desires are just too strong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> New bonus here! I'll have something to tell you at the end too. But let's start with that: this bonus happens after chapter 28. It's about the relationship with Isolina and Reena and their time in high school when they have to hide from the rest of their peers.
> 
> Genre: Romance, fluff, and kinda smut.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Are you sure you've not started dating anyone again?"

"Yes, why?"

"You look really well-dressed today."

"Well, I would have told you. Unless you're telling me I've already hidden my romantic relationships?"

"No, that's true but…"

Someone clearing their throat. And she knew well whose throat it was. She turned around, frowning like the two friends she was talking to before they were interrupted. She met her girlfriend's candid gaze: she had a smile sweeter than honey, her head slightly tilted and her hands crossed behind her back.

"Can I take her away from you for a moment?" she asked with great delicacy.

The two girls speaking with Isolina nodded, the young waterbender apologized and began to follow her girlfriend who had turned to lead the way, puzzled. The two girls continued their chatter:

"It's weird to see her coming to her like that..."

"Not weirder than when she started hanging out with us..."

"Yeah, that was definitely weird. But hey, they say they've been friends for a while maybe she just missed her. Where do you think they're going?"

"Toilets. They're heading this way anyway. Did you see her face? She must have forgotten that she was on her period and needed a sanitary towel."

They giggled.

"That must be it!"

"In the meantime, I'm wondering more about Iso's new boyfriend..."

"Roh, she told you she didn't have one."

"You don't get dressed like that for nothing! I'm sure she's lying. I wonder who he is..."

"Oh, oh, me, me! It must be him there, look... "

And they continued whispering. They were so discreet about the boy who could potentially be Isolina's boyfriend that he noticed them and fled. It only increased their suspicions!

—

"Reena!" Isolina whispered scolding her a little. "I thought we should no longer see each other when being at school, especially when you come to me in front of my friends."

"Rooh, but I wanted to see _so_ much."

"Yes, that was kinda obvious... oof!"

She did not expect _that_!

She had followed Reena down the corridors and they ended up reaching the toilets for people with disability, which gave them more privacy than the toilets for ladies. And it was also bigger. This was certainly why Reena had pushed Isolina inside, kissing her fiercely and pressing her against the door which she locked on the way.

They quickly found themselves out of breath, Reena slid her fingers against her bare thigh, going up to her hip and going to the back of her leg. Isolina did her best to distance herself from her girlfriend's hungry lips, so they ended up on her neck.

"Reena! What exactly do you think you're doing?"

"I really want you."

"We're in high school."

"Have you seen how you're dressed? I've been holding back since this morning!"

"It's not for you, it's for my girlfriend that I see after school."

Reena gave her a dubious look meaning: "as if you were not talking about the same person..."

"Reena, we're in high school. In the toilets for disabled people. Seriously…"

"So what? Do you think this will affect my performance?"

"No, it's just not the right place."

"I won't last until after our date, I'm telling you."

"You just have to control your animal instincts."

Isolina tried to push her away a bit thinking that she could possibly not give in. But she was wrong. It was Reena she was talking about... There was no one more convincing and obstinate than her.

Her girlfriend moved closer to her biting her ear as she pressed her thigh with her hand.

"It's your fault..." she whispered to her. "You're way too attractive dressed like that and I've seen you trying to catch my gaze all day."

"I did that?" Isolina teased both seductively and innocently.

"Oh yeah, you absolutely did."

She teasingly repositioned her hand so that she was on the inside of her thigh, under the navy-blue skirt that Isolina was wearing. She brushed against her panties and heard the burning sigh of her lover against her ear.

"Are you really sure you don't want to?" Reena teased again, in a deep and seductive voice.

"I'm positively sure we shouldn't be doing this here."

"Mmmm…"

She leaned her head down her girlfriend's neckline and bit the skin which was accessible to her.

"Reena..."

"What? Are you still not convinced?"

"Oh for Spirits' sake, just shut up."

She smiled a little mischievously and took the opportunity to put the fabric out of her way and enter her girlfriend's intimacy. Isolina stifled a moan clutching at Reena.

"Try not to make too much noise," she whispered to her although she started her work between her lover's legs.

"You really think so?" Isolina replied sarcastically, breathless.

"I'll help you…"

She kissed her deeply to attenuate the sounds that might come out of her lover's mouth. Isolina inadvertently bit her tongue several times while trying to hold back but Reena didn't complain. She didn't stop until her mission was accomplished, then washed her hands while Isolina got dressed properly.

"I hate you so much when you do this to me..." she growled. "And what was the deal concerning biting marks again?"

"Mmm?"

Reena turned around and noticed that she had bitten Isolina's chest maybe a little bit too hard.

"There's water," she said.

"You're really lucky to go out with a healer."

"I'm just lucky to go out with you."

She pecked her on the lips and Isolina erased the mark with her waterbending.

"Do I look all right now?" she asked, checking that she looked perfectly normal and didn't look like she had had a roll in the bay with her girlfriend.

"Gorgeous," she said leaning against the sink.

"Right. Well, look away. I don't want you to trick me twice in a row."

"It made a change for once."

"Not in high school, Reena. It's super dangerous!"

"And you're super-hot."

She approached Isolina again and took her in her arms, squeezing her butt by the way.

"Reena..." Isolina growled.

The other girl laughed.

"I promise, I'm not trying anything else. I'm satisfied... for now. We'll see tonight if we do it again, but since I particularly like your outfit, chances are I'll stay at your house tonight... Do you think it's fine?

"It should be…"

"Great. See you after class then. Love you!"

She kissed her one last time before moving away a bit to leave.

"I love you too. Despite your dirty tricks."

Reena stuck her tongue out, then left the room returning to her activities. Isolina sighed, then laughed.

Making love in the high school toilets... It had never crossed her mind. And since then, she had been dating Reena—who tended to be terribly unpredictable and even more so now that she has started having sex with her.

It wasn't really the first time that she had jumped on her out of the blue but usually she waited at least until they weren't in high school anymore. Anyway, the bell would ring soon and her friends would wonder what had happened to her. It could only put her at a disadvantage to disappear for too long especially since they already thought she was dating someone.

She got out of the bathroom and joined the two girls she had been with and as she expected:

"So where have you been?"

"Still with Reena. She needed me."

"Ah she did? Did she have problem of some sorts?"

"Yes... Girls problems."

"Ah! See, I told you!" she said to the other girl who nodded.

"Well, we think we found your mysterious boyfriend!"

"You… did?"

"Yes! Is that him over there?"

"No."

"Did you start dating girls again then?"

"I told you I'm not going out with anyone."

"But it sucks!"

Then the bell rang.

"Class time. You'll resume your investigation later."

"You have to go out with someone. You look like someone who's dating someone."

"If you say so."

"Besides, if I trusted my guts, I would say that you left for so long because you were with this person!"

"I was with Reena, you just have to ask her."

"Pfff... It sucks..."

Never again would she dress properly to go to high school even if she had a date with Reena just after... Between her hungry girlfriend and her friends, it was far too dangerous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think about that? I needed more Isolina/Reena x) Can't help it. I think I ship my own characters, that's bad xD
> 
> Anyway, you remember how I told you that there would be 4 bonuses in this collection? Well, change of plan! There will be… errr… I'm not sure yet? Supposedly 6. Ok, let me explain.
> 
> I don't know if anyone noticed, but the French version has one more chapter. No, I didn't forget about you, guys, I just had to post it sooner because I wrote this bonus that was not planned for a challenge on the French forum. And so, here it is… And since it was a challenge, I didn't manage to finish it properly, so it needs another chapter to be complete. And I hope it only needs one chapter. But you know me, right? I can't say that will be the case. What I can say is that next week I'll post the last translated chapter. The week after I'll maybe post the translation for the new bonus (but I have to talk with my beta about it) and then… then no idea.
> 
> I'll see you then and tell you whenever I know! Don't forget to support me :p Love you all, thank you for the reading, and don't hesitate to comment/review! (French readers are being silent, it's sad…)
> 
> See you!
> 
> Lion


	4. Last Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before she leaves, Isolina has to face her past one last time… Maybe it's finally time…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> This is the new bonus. It happens just before Isolina and Reena leave for the South Pole. (Somewhere in the last chapter if I remember well.)
> 
> Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Angst
> 
> Enjoy!

"Are you really sure about this?"

"I…"

"Asami, she needs it. Like me after Zaheer. Like you after Kuvira."

Asami, Korra and Isolina were together in the couple's bedroom. They were discussing an important—very important—matter that could endanger them and stir the past and the pains associated with it.

That's why Asami was against it. Korra, of course, disagreed. And even if Isolina was the most concerned of them, she left the confrontation of postures and looks to them and sat a little nonchalantly on her mothers' bed. She knew she shouldn't let her mother speak for her but she couldn't contradict her other mother either: she was scared.

"But it's been so long..." the businesswoman added. "It hasn't been necessary until now..."

"Yeah, right. Maybe you would have preferred to send her there when she was 12?"

"No, of course not... It's just that..."

She sighed. Anyway, what exactly was she trying to do? Korra was not the one to convince. Korra was not the one who would put herself in danger and she was not the one she would be afraid for.

She turned to her daughter who had her head bowed while waiting for the outcome of the conversation. But it didn't work like that. She wanted to make this decision, all right, but she had to participate in this conversation and prove that her decision was the right one.

"Isolina, is that what you really want?"

The girl looked up and met the piercing green of her mother's eyes. Could she show that same stubborn strength that she drew from her will to protect her?

She could and she had to. She wanted to protect herself too—in a different way. She had not to let fear speak, not to let her mother's love convince her. She had already made up her mind after having thought about it with Reena. She had to do it for them.

Reena had been enduring her nightmares for years. Isolina had been enduring these nightmares for even more years. And each time they reappeared, she felt like it was the straw that broke the camel's back. But either this camel was stronger than anything and had fun playing with her nerves, or it got back on its feet each time to hurt her over and over again.

She had started to think about it that night when she woke up as if she was persecuted again—she was convinced that her executioners had never been caught. Reena had reassured her and told her that they were well and truly in prison for eternity. But she had never seen that.

She had not been there when they had been arrested, she had not been there when they had been locked up, she only had words from her mothers who had done all the work. But she had nothing: no certainty, no anchorage, no memory to come back to. She needed it. Even if she couldn't stop the nightmares, she needed to know in order not to believe those nightmares anymore.

Maybe these ones would end up disappearing... At least they wouldn't be as disorienting and painful anymore, she would no longer have to flee from them and could confront them with weapons. She wouldn't lose anymore because she wasn't equipped against this invisible and nightmarish force which corrupted her dreams.

"Yes," she said with a nod. "It's now or never. I'm an adult now, I have to do it before I go."

"You're so young... And finishing high school doesn't make you an adult, young girl."

"Mum!"

"I know, I know. You're going to start your own life, be independent, away from me and your mother, and it's time that you face the past. I know very well what you're going to say. And I won't object. But Korra..."

"Yes, of course, I'll go with her."

"Alright."

Asami stared at her daughter, looking like she was telling her: "I trust you but you better know what you're doing". Isolina hoped that she also knew what she was doing... She just looked back at her mother and silently thanked her despite the heavy weight it put on her own shoulders.

* * *

They entered the very high security prison and took the elevator. Next to Zaheer's cell, just as isolated as he was—if not more—a second cell had been added. There was a notorious enemy, a powerful enemy, who didn't subdue people through his non-existent bending but through the power of his mind of domination and the terror he inspired. The Avatar and her daughter had come to see this enemy this day—a day that they knew to be memorable.

As soon as they entered the room he lit up with a smile. The years had taken nothing from his sadistic and ferocious charisma. Seeing that smile Isolina jumped, taking a little step back. She felt the bile heat up her stomach as horrific memories beset her mind.

Red, black, gloomy light, dull and still water that turned into a man-eating eel, the brilliant ebony snake that hissed against the walls and against her innocent and torn flesh. Yes, she could see all of that in that satisfied and incisive smile he had given her the day he had whipped her for the first time, savoring her blood and her pain. She saw that piercing gleam in his eyes that scratched her skin and tried to break into her. She felt painful chills run down her back as if someone was slowly tearing off her skin, piece by piece, string by string, while enjoying themselves.

"Isolina..." he breathed gravely, leaving each of the syllables out of breath.

The voice. He was it: the voice. She was petrified by this voice as if she was five years old again and being subjugated to it, as if each of her intonations grasped and used her. She was locked inside herself, lost, totally lost.

But Korra stepped forward.

"You better shut it up, Ba Tu. If you think we're here for a courtesy call!"

"And what else? I thought I have already had the maximum sentence. Oooh, or Isolina came here for revenge. Accompanied by our great Avatar, the terrible little waterbender came to kill me."

Korra didn't answer, she just turned to Isolina and looked at her with her compassionate blue eyes. Then, the girl swallowed and walked slowly towards her mother, feeling the urge to snuggle against her. But she didn't. She had to be strong.

She stood in front of Ba Tu who was handcuffed. He was taller than her, less tall than she remembered, but that didn't take away his threatening side.

"I..." she started in a quavering voice that got out of breath on its own.

She closed her eyes and continued:

"I will no longer be afraid of you."

Ba Tu simply laughed.

"You don't believe it yourself, girl."

"I will no longer be afraid of you!" she repeated, shouting and opening her eyes this time.

"Pfff... It's deplorable. Is that really all you have become? A lousy pet of the Avatar, when you had so much potential, when you could have destroyed her."

"She's my mother!"

"Yes, I was informed. What a stroke of fate, isn't it? The instrument of the loss of the Avatar becoming her doggie... But you know what your destiny is, Isolina, you know that you have to kill her, remember? For your poor parents who fought for us, against this abusive and foolish woman."

"Shut up."

"Why? I'm telling the truth. Do you forget them? Do you betray them? After all they have done, the number of people they have captured for us, for our mission, their own daughter betrays them by rallying with the enemy and not only! By replacing them and daring to call their sworn enemy "mother"!"

"I told you to shut up!"

She slapped him. Ba Tu barely moved but he laughed out loud.

"Isolina..." Korra tried to intervene.

"Oh, come on, is that all you can do? I didn't think you were so weak! You were scared and you asked her to take your bending away from you, right?"

The young waterbender couldn't stand it any longer. She found water in the air around them and formed a lasso which she enlaced Ba Tu's throat with.

"Is that what you wanted?" she spat at him, darker than the ash burned in the sun.

"No. You know what I want Isolina. Show me, show me your real power!"

"Isolina..." the blue-eyed woman tried to intervene.

"I don't do that kind of thing anymore. I'm someone much better than you!"

"You're someone infinitely _weaker_ than me. That's all you are. You're weak and pitiful, and if I had known you would turn into that I would not have tried to protect you."

"Protect me? By marking me for life? Whipping me until I have scars for life? Was that protecting me?"

"I should have let them do it. I should have let them abuse you like they did with the others."

"The others…"

"Yes, they had to be allowed to unwind, there had to be some benefits for living hidden and excluded. So little girls like you, like your little friend, every night, they had to be useful... "

Isolina's eyes filled with tears. She had never wanted to think about Lochan's suffering. She had never wanted to confront the images she had seen as a child with the analysis that she had been able to make of them as an adult. It hurt too much to imagine how much she must have suffered, all they had done to her, by raping her. By raping her over and over again.

She tightened the lasso but he kept talking.

"Oh, but don't worry, I would have kept you to myself, and I would have penetrated you again and again, all day and all night if necessary, until you were finally destroyed. Until you had nothing but me and our relations. What do you think, Isolina, would you have liked that sweetness? I could have offered it to you, I could have... "

This time, she couldn't stand it any longer and—as a wild tear wore her cheek out—she bent Ba Tu's blood wringing his stomach and feeling the sudden urge to tear his penis up.

"Isolina!" Korra called her. "Please don't do something that you'll regret later."

She barely heard her. It was as if Korra was no longer there, as if she had no family, no love, as if she was back at being the desperate child she was at five years old.

All she saw was Ba Tu who managed to smile, again and again, through all the pain. She wanted so much to snatch that smile from him. She wanted to take everything from him, everything he had, everything he was.

Taking revenge, he said. And why not? Why not take revenge when people had hurt as much as he had, when they still felt the need to hurt by their words, to dig an ever-deeper hole in their past victims.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked at her mother. She was calm, she was not afraid, she did not judge her, and yet she felt so misunderstood!

"He's horrible! He deserves for me to kill him! He deserves for me to kill him like he killed everyone! Everyone I loved!"

"I know. It's up to you to choose what you want to do, Isolina. I'm not here to stop you from doing what you want to do but think carefully about your choice. You will remember this moment all your life, my daughter. When you think about it later, do you want to think 'I was strong, I killed this bastard' or 'I was strong, I didn't give in to my pain'?"

She didn't know. Was it really being strong not to kill him? Being weak by killing him? Being strong by killing him? Being weak by not killing him?

"I want to kill him," she cried. "I want to kill him so much..."

However, she let go and collapsed in the mother's arms which welcomed and consoled her. Ba Tu took a breath and snorted.

"Even Lochan had more courage than you. At least she died with dignity."

Isolina cried again but she answered him through her tears:

"Lochan... Lochan had more courage than anyone."

Trying to calm down, aggressively wiping her eyes that kept dropping tears on her reddened cheeks, she still turned to Ba Tu and resumed in a damp and sensitive voice:

"But her courage was love, and I will have this same courage. I won't kill you. That's what you want: you're stuck here. You're weaker: you're stuck. I'm free and I'm stronger and more powerful than you. I could destroy half the world if I wanted to, but I won't."

"What's the point of having this freedom and this power if you don't want to destroy half the world?" he asked, a little bitter and tired.

"I will do better."

Ba Tu raised an eyebrow.

"I will heal half the world—the whole world if necessary—and I will become the greatest healer the world has ever known. You wanted me to destroy; I will rebuild, out of love, in honor of Lochan, and not destroy out of hatred for you."

She turned around and started to go out. Then, he shouted to her:

"You can heal whatever you want, Isolina, the world will always be imperfect as long as your 'mother' is there! You can heal but you refuse to change things, that's what will lead us to our loss!"

"The world doesn't have to be perfect, it needs good people to have it run, and my mom is someone good, not like you!"

"You haven't changed, Isolina. You're exactly the same. You're like me. You know very well that there are bad guys in this world, one day your instinct will overtake you and you will eradicate them."

"I won't kill anymore. Never again!"

"Sometimes that's what you have to do to make things better. It's because your parents died that you stopped fleeing and leading a miserable life."

Feeling her anger take over for her, she stopped to glare at him. How dared he say such a thing?

"I would have had a very happy life if you hadn't chased me in the first place!"

"What about your mothers? They wouldn't have had you. Negative things bring positive things. Death brings life, destruction prosperity, you will realize one day, Isolina, that I was right, that your parents were right. The Black Lotus will exist until it succeeds in its mission."

"It won't exist through me. I won't be the one bearing the burden of your madness. All this is past, it no longer exists, not for me. It's over."

The elevator doors she and Korra had reached closed and Ba Tu couldn't say anything else. Once the doors were closed, Isolina sighed.

"I'm proud of you," Korra said.

"I could have killed him."

"I know. But you didn't."

"What if I had?"

"We would have overcome that, together."

"You wouldn't have stepped in?"

"It wasn't my fight, Isolina. It was yours, I've let you handle this confrontation despite the horrors he said."

"I should have cut off his dick..."

"Oh, that can be dealt with! If you want, we go back!" she joked.

Isolina giggled lightly and hugged her mother, putting her head on her shoulder.

"Thank you for coming, Mom. Otherwise I would have made a mistake..."

"You are much stronger than you think, Isolina. You would have remembered that you have people who love you and who wouldn't want you to carry this burden."

"Maybe… "

They got out of the elevator but before they reached the big central door, the blue-eyed girl held her mother by the hand.

"Hold on! I want to see him!"

"Who? Hieu?"

"No, I'm done with them. I don't want to see them ever again. Ever. Zaheer. I want to see, Zaheer."

"Zaheer? But you haven't seen him for almost ten years!"

"I know but... he helped us and we've never told him it was over..."

"Oh, don't worry, he doesn't need me to tell him this stuff, I'm sure he's very well informed."

"Mom, I want to see him. You don't have to come."

"That's not why I don't want you to go see him… I just don't get why… But if you want to, then…"

They joined the second elevator and descended to the depths of the prison in order to see the other most dangerous public enemy.

He was surprised to see them, Korra just gave him a look that meant "I don't know what we're doing here either" and stayed back. Isolina walked with a smile over to the man whose graying hair had turned white. He went down a bit from his meditation position to say hello and was greeted with a hug. He was very confused and Korra was amused when seeing his face—it would remain forever etched in her memory—although she remained impassive.

"I have never been able to thank you," Isolina said, giving the airbender a new bright smile.

"Thank me…"

"Yes! For helping us capture the bad guys!"

"I wish I could have done so much more, Isolina... If I could, I would have killed them with my own hands."

"I know, I almost did it too."

"You almost did?"

She succinctly told him about her meeting with Ba Tu and Zaheer softened. He liked this child. He had only seen her once, maybe two if you counted the time he briefly encountered her in the Spirit world with Korra and Asami, but he loved her dearly.

He liked her energy, the innocence she had kept, and he liked that she reminded him of P'Li. He liked to see that she was doing better than the latter and that—even if she didn't share his ideals—she fulfilled at least one of his desires: to see her happy. He had always wanted P'Li to be happy, she had ended up dying for their cause. Isolina had already suffered because of their cause, so at least she could be happy.

They talked for a while, Korra didn't bother them. Zaheer inquired about Isolina's life and he learned that she had decided to use her gifts to do good—which he could only agree with—and that she was therefore leaving for the South Pole with her girlfriend to study.

He told her that if she ever went to the Spirit world, she shouldn't hesitate to call him and they could see each other. She promised to come back one day, at least when she was a great waterbender. He told her that he would be looking forward to this day and after a few more happy chats, Korra and Isolina left.

Zaheer remained in his prison as usual. He smiled again for a moment. Isolina was healing, getting back on her feet, she would be strong, he knew it. He felt like he had achieved something, something he could be proud of even if he was only a small factor. Ah, he would wait a few more years until Isolina came to see him, to speak to him and tell him that she was the best healer the world had ever seen. Afterwards, he would definitely go to the Spirit world. He was getting old and this world had very little attraction. But he would wait for Isolina first and tell her that they could still meet in the Spirit world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? Let me know?
> 
> Um… I'm sorry but I won't be able to post for a little while. I'm busy and kinda exhausted. So, I can't write or translate anything, because the last strengths I have are for studying and reading when I have free time. I'll try not to make it too long, but let's say I'll certainly need a few weeks. At least for the second part of the last bonus. I don't know about the translation. I might finish it next week…
> 
> See you and take care!
> 
> Lion


	5. A Child's Play — Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are not many things which Isolina and Reena don't agree on. Children is one of these. As Reena tries to make Isolina realize the importance of children in a family, the young water-bender is convinced that it's a bad idea. A really bad idea. What if it were the end of their couple?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!
> 
> It's been a long time, hasn't it? To make it short, I've been really busy and a bit depressed, and also a lot lazy (still am), plus I got problems with my beta which comforted me in not posting. But he said the chapters should be fine without any suggestion from him, so we'll do with my translation.
> 
> I'll post two chapters in a row as an apology. Just so you know, this last bonus is actually composed of three chapters. It's the last one, then I'll put an end to this story. I'm still writing the third part, which will be posted before the end of summer. At least, I hope so... People don't read much in summer anyway, so I guess no one will be waiting for this third part.
> 
> As for the pieces of information:
> 
> People wanted Isolina and Reena to have children, so... let's see how Isolina deals with that.
> 
> Genre: Family, Angst
> 
> Enjoy!

Isolina and Reena had decided not to have children. Well... decided... People might say that...

No, in fact, Isolina had totally decided that they would not have children. And it wasn't because Reena was making her puppy dog eyes, that she was caring and doing crazy things to her in bed that she would change her mind.

No was no. And she was at least as stubborn as her girlfriend. Well, from time to time.

She had to admit that the conversation she had had with her mother about it had weakened her position a little. She had even told herself that she should think about it seriously, that they had time, and all of that. Then, she had saved a child in the street, she had joined her partner, they had spent a calm, quiet, perfect evening. Why change it even a little?

Apparently, Reena really cared about it because she even gave her a massage. It ended up being much more intense than that...

"You know that even if you make love to me a thousand times, I'm not going to have a baby, right? Because if that's necessary, I can teach you again the basics of reproduction..."

"Oh, stop it..."

Reena jostled her before kissing her languidly while being on top of her.

"I'm not going to give in... Just saying..."

"Why?"

"Because."

"That's not really a reason."

"We already talked about it. Just the two of us is good."

"We can be more than two."

"But right now, I have you only for myself..."

"You wouldn't be jealous of your daughter or your son anyway..."

"And why not? You're too important for you to be shared with others... At home, at least."

Reena fell back onto the bed and sighed.

"Why do I have the least reasonable girlfriend in the world?" she complained.

Isolina said nothing. She looked at the ceiling.

"Reena?"

"Mmmm…"

"You... Do you need it?"

"Need what?"

"To have children. I mean... you're not fulfilled now, that's why you want things to change, right?"

"What? No! I am fulfilled. I love you and you know it."

"But... why do you insist so much?"

"Because... Because I don't want you to miss this."

"You don't want _me_ to miss this?"

"I don't want to miss this either, but you're right when you say that it's easier for me, and all about that. That's why you have to do it. Well, you don't have to either, but you know what I mean..."

"You know... every time we have this conversation, I think of my mothers..."

"Why?"

"I often talked about it with Asami when I was little, because I didn't understand well… But she said that if I hadn't come into their lives, they would surely never have talked about it and even if she wanted children, she would never have had any. She said that she thought she could do without it because she was very happy and that she loved Mom more than anything in the world and..."

"And..."

"I don't want to take this away from you... I don't want to take this away from you like Korra almost did it with Asami when... She suffered from it, even if she didn't say anything. And I'm worse, because you tell me and I don't listen, and..."

"Isolina, calm down."

"Sorry…"

"You don't make me suffer, ok? I'm happy with you, we're a couple, we'll make this decision together."

"I just want you to be really happy… I don't want to force you…"

"Yeah, well, that's the contract when you are together with someone, right? Otherwise we would end up eating each other."

As evidence, Reena nibbled her lover's shoulder, which made her laugh. The other girl shoved her a bit and they almost ended up fighting with pillows, but Isolina resumed with an air between fun and reprimand:

"Stop that, I'm serious!"

"A little too much, don't you think?"

"Perhaps. I'm just saying that we're fine like that, I've never liked change and you know it. And a child is complicated."

"It's not complicated. You have to take care of them, give them a little love and attention, have fun, learn lots of things and laugh. You already know how to do all of this, right?"

She plunged into her memories. She quickly remembered all the good times she had spent with Reena when they were children, all the good times she had spent with Korra and Asami and the people who were close to her. Then she thought about most of the other relationships she had... Acquaintances, friends, all those other times when she had seemed to be having fun while she just didn't really care or she couldn't have fun. That's why she didn't really have friends, that's why she didn't want children.

"Not... always..." she said, grimacing.

"But with your family?"

"You're my family! Not some fifth wheel!"

"Do you really think that Korra and Asami once considered you a fifth wheel? And then, if you don't want a "fifth wheel" as you say, I'll carry them, or better yet, you carry them."

"Out of the question," she decreed unequivocally.

Isolina was starting to get sharp and Reena knew she was playing a dangerous game, she was going to have to resist her cutting remarks so as not to hurt herself, and not to get angry so as not to hurt her. In any case, the situation would surely become for her to handle and her companion would end up deflecting the subject or shutting herself up like an oyster as it often happened. Oh, she could make her reopen but it would probably have to go through there.

"Why?" Reena asked lightly.

"Because I don't want an outsider to intervene in the affairs of our couple!"

"You make babies, remember, with your bending..."

"I don't "make babies". They don't come out of nowhere, and so it's no. If you want children, I refuse to do so by anything other than adoption."

"Well, already, that's it. But do we agree that this is not a "fifth wheel"?"

Isolina sighed, groaned, and rolled into her bed.

"Don't want to talk about it anymore?"

"Not really... I'm not sure I can handle it, Reena... I can accept the idea, even try, but... bring another person into my life—our life—like that even a child, it's like an impassable wall to me. What will we do if I can't? What if we don't get along?"

"That won't happen."

"What if it does?"

Reena rolled her eyes.

"If it happens, it won't happen again. We'll fix the problem."

"Okay…"

"Okay?"

"It's an okay that means: "okay let me consider the idea and a little time to take it in, please"... she growled.

Reena laughed. She was not going to push her luck any further. She had already managed to finally finish this conversation that Isolina had been avoiding for weeks and she had agreed to think about it. Really, it was something to be proud of! Besides, the goal was not to hurt her. Never.

"Okay, Love. Sleep well. We'll talk about it in a week."

She sighed.

"Good night."

* * *

The next day, Reena managed to find Asami who got up at dawn. She was finishing her breakfast when the young Airbender showed up in her pajamas.

"You really have to lose this habit of getting up early..." she grumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Reena? Already awake?"

"Yeah."

She yawned and began to prepare tea. Ouch, she needed it at such an early hour…

Asami noted that she looked... totally sleepy. In fact, she should still be sleeping for other long hours, which was why she was surprised. Something was going on, or it was a simple insomnia but seeing her face she doubted it.

"Why are you up?" she asked directly.

She and Reena had long stopped caring about formalizing their talks.

"Because I love the morning air," the Airbender replied, jokingly before resuming more seriously. "I wanted to talk to you."

"So early in the morning?"

"Face to face."

"Okay... Is there a problem with Isolina?"

"No, I don't think so... Well, I hope not... I don't know if she told you about... 'my desire to extend the family'."

"We talked about it," she confirmed.

"Okay. Well, she doesn't like much the idea, but yesterday it looked like I managed to make her a little more inclined and she might even accept it."

"Congratulations?"

"Yes and no… She really doesn't want to. I hope I don't push her too hard... I don't want to put my desires before hers but this is really the first time that we totally disagree. There is no way to find a middle ground: it's either yes or no. And yet, I... I feel like it would be the right decision, you know? For her, I mean. She... Isolina... You know how she is, she is your daughter..."

"Are you afraid that she is too tightly gripped on your cocoon as it has always been?"

"Yes! And I mean, the rest of the time, I don't mind. Her essential and exclusive personality, I mean. We're doing well. But... raising a child is already an experience that changes us—I saw it with you—and that might allow her to love someone else... I don't know how she manages not to see that if anything happens to me..."

"Oh, she sees it. She just ignores it. She can't afford to contemplate this for too long. It would hurt her too much."

"But I can't be her only support! I mean, she has you and the people she knew in her childhood and some others but..."

"I know, it's not the same with the others and Korra and I won't be here forever anyway."

Asami put into words exactly what was on her mind. She didn't mean to say that, because there was still time and it was not very nice.

"Yeah, right..." she confirmed, a little sheepish.

"You can say it, you know. It's not a taboo."

"Well, I don't want to put you in the grave too quickly..."

Asami laughed.

"It's reality."

"Do you think I should keep pushing her, even if... I'm almost forcing her?"

"I don't know. I'm not the one who will suffer the consequences, it's you and your couple. And the child. You have to be strong enough for them."

"But Isolina would never hurt a child… She suffered too much for that…"

"Unless she's unable to accept them. She won't do it on purpose..."

"I don't know…"

"Wait a bit. See if she can accept the idea and maybe want the same thing as you. If she believes it is the right decision, that the two of you will be happy, she will do anything to make it happen."

"I know…"

The problem is that she had no idea how to give birth to such a desire or even if it could in the midst of fear. Because Isolina was afraid: afraid of change, of the unknown, afraid of people, to a degree that she would never be able to fully get.

And she was a little scared too: afraid of being wrong, afraid of not understanding her girlfriend enough to make the right decision. But they had known each other for almost 20 years, they had grown up together, they could go through this just fine!

Then it was not as if Isolina was pathologically unable to relate to people. She just felt that she had created the relationships she needed when she was little and she had lost sight of so many people that she did not even allow the opportunity to know anyone else. But it would be different with a child, right?

* * *

Finally, a few more months were necessary. Reena alternated between talking about it and not talking about it. Then, one day, Isolina announced that she was ready. Her partner wondered about this shift in the situation but never bothered to ask, for fear that she would change her mind.

If she had asked, she would have known that Isolina had ended up being touched by all the happy couples she helped every day and that she had just seen a child die, a child, beaten to death by his parents, that she couldn't save. The rest of the day, she had been haunted by her past. She had known that she would never be a mother like that, an awful mother. Maybe she could not be emotionally attached to this child, but she could at least protect them as she had been protected. She could help someone like her.

So, on a Tuesday, after other long months of waiting, they had an appointment to get to know this child whom they would be the mothers of. Isolina was nervous, more than nervous. She hadn't been so nervous since she had confronted her persecutor. Okay, sure, she was supposed to meet a little innocent being and not a manipulative and bloodthirsty murderer, but really, the feeling was the same.

She was getting ready, tying her hair, when Reena appeared behind her, slipping behind her back and placing her hands on her stomach. The waterbender jumped.

"Don't scare me like that..."

"You're very tense, my love... Relax..."

"I can't. And Reena?"

"Yes?"

Isolina turned and kissed her deeply. Even if the other woman was surprised, she was not going to be picky. However, she questioned so much ardor and passion.

"What was that for?"

"For if it doesn't work."

Isolina was entitled to a doubtful look and a raised eyebrow.

"If we're doing something stupid, it's not working out and we're screwing up our lives and our couple, I want you to remember that moment. I want you to remember that I love you and that I'll always love only you."

"Stop being so dramatic."

"I did what I had to do. Then, you do what you want. Shall we?"

Reena was driving. It was silent. Isolina wanted to throw up. She looked at the landscapes, her forehead pressed against the glass of the window which was getting hot. And then, finally, they arrived.

Isolina walked in first despite all the subterfuge she used to make Reena be the one to lead the way. There were some meetings, some procedures, then finally they were there.

In front of them was a little boy named Gaku. He came from the Earth Republic. He had a slightly tanned complexion, but not enough to make it obvious. He had two green eyes which were more luxuriant than a forest, short black hair, a simple outfit and a suitcase larger than him on which he was sitting.

When they arrived, he looked at them curiously, wriggling imperceptibly. The accompanying adult said some information to the young women. Isolina listened attentively, sometimes throwing brief glances at the child who was staring at her when he was not busy answering the antics of her companion who was certainly acting like a clown behind her. Finally, the time when the adult explained everything to them seemed too short and, after some introductions, it was time to go home.

They installed him, spent some time chatting with him. It was mostly Reena who made the conversation. Isolina listened to it and sometimes answered the child's questions. Gaku. Their son. Anyway.

As soon as she could, she slipped away to go and cook. After a few minutes, Reena left Gaku and joined her.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Why are you going away then?"

"Time."

"Are you going to answer me with monosyllables for a long time?"

"Maybe."

"Two syllables, you're getting better!"

The joke didn't work. Isolina remained focused on the vegetables she was cutting.

"Give me time to breathe. Please."

"Okay…"

Reena kissed her on the cheek.

"I love you."

Then she left without waiting for the answer.

Indeed, Isolina needed to breathe. She felt like she had been holding her breath from the start of the day, that she was choking, that she was suffocating. This was why she did not join her partner and "her son" when she had finished preparing. She went to her room. She closed the door. Locked it. She tried to breathe, not to die from the inside.

She dropped, back to the door, and curled up like she did when she was a child. She only had to reach out to grab the old purple teddy bear that was lying on the dresser next to the door. She let her arm fall. She stayed there, alone, trying to breathe.

It couldn't be easy, could it?

Why did she feel like she was so lonely, soiled, overwhelmed? A child, it was just a child... Their child. He was nice, he was a sparkling boy, she saw it in his eyes. But it hurt her... She knew she would need adjustment, time, and she was afraid of having it because it hurt. She was going to solve this problem. She couldn't bear it to last.

"Isolina, where are you?" her girlfriend called.

"Coming!"

She took a deep breath, even though the air seemed to never reach her lungs. She put the purple bear down and went back to her partner.

"Something's wrong?"

"No, nothing at all, I was getting my hair done."

"Okay…"

"Where's Gaku?"

"He's having fun in the bedroom. He likes the mattress."

"I see…"

"Isolina…"

"I'll check that the things on fire are not burning."

Reena let her do so. Rather, she went to their room. She looked at the old teddy bear. Isolina may be very fastidious, but Reena made a masterful effort to memorize very exactly all the locations and all the positions of what was in their environment, in particular this bear, and the head was not oriented correctly.

She had hoped it would go perfectly well. She had hoped that for once in Isolina's life something would be easy and normal. But that was not the case. And she would protect her, as she had promised her so many times. She knew her demons were formidable, but she would sacrifice everything if necessary. This child was supposed to be a chance for her, not a curse. And if he became one... she would have to protect Isolina first of all, even if she was a bad mother or not a mother at all and had to give it up forever...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what? I'd make me really happy to have comments x) Thank you for reading anyway. (It was nice to see that people still give kudos to the main story, by the way.) I won't put any author notes for next chapter. I guess I'll be back next month or something like that. Then, I'll say goodbye for an undecided time.
> 
> See you then!
> 
> Lion


	6. A Child's Play — Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami are in this chapter, by the way.

The evening quickly arrived, supper too. Since Isolina had taken care of it so well, it was delicious! Gaku had been polite, he had thanked her, she had smiled. He was well educated: he knew how to sit at the table, he ate cleanly, he was generally quite discreet, even if he transgressed this rule as soon as he was enthusiastic. Then, he turned into a star in the middle of the dark night, he radiated and used his charm to be admired and to make the clown.

Reena had seen Isolina laugh at many of his jokes or smile. She didn't know what to think of it. She knew she was not feeling well, and there was one thing that pissed her off a lot: Isolina was very good at hiding what she really felt and showing the appropriate feelings.

Generally, she noticed. But when she noticed it, it was because Isolina had decided, because she had no blinders, because she had made a tiny mistake somewhere. Except that when Isolina wanted to, she could let nothing show through, she could completely deny her any access to her heart, and that was exactly what she was doing. And Reena didn't like it at all, simply because she couldn't guess whether her sincerity was, well, sincere or deceitful!

So, she had spent most of the meal being silent and scrutinizing her partner to find the slightest wrong note that would betray her. Gaku hadn't noticed anything and had continued to chat happily with Isolina. Isolina had noticed her but had ignored it beautifully. Oh, but she wasn't going to be able to ignore her for long! She just had to wait for the kid to go to bed...

The moment came when they were alone. Reena led Isolina to their bedroom by the wrist, although she was careful not to hurt her and not to be too abrupt because she did not want them to argue on the day of the adoption.

"What do you think you're doing exactly?" she asked her, closing the door.

"I'm not good?" she countered.

"You are... But you're lying to me."

"I haven't lied to you."

"Then you avoided the conversation. I just want you to tell me how you're feeling."

"Good."

"And now, don't tell me that you're not lying!"

"You have no proof that I'm lying!"

"I do."

Isolina raised an eyebrow.

"The teddy-bear."

"What about it?"

"You took it, and you only do when you're not feeling well. Really not well."

"Whatever…"

"Isolina, its head has changed position. Stop denying it."

"It's... because of the wind..."

"Because of the wind? You didn't find anything better?"

"No, I didn't."

Reena moved closer to her partner, who kept her head down and clenched her fists. She took them in her hands.

"What's wrong? You can tell me... I'm here for you."

"No I…"

"No? Isolina, we said we would do this together, remember?"

"You can't!"

She freed herself, put her back to her and ran a hand over her face and through her hair.

"I can't what? Help you?"

"Understand."

"I always managed to understand you. And even when it failed, I made you to move on. We've always worked together, the two of us."

"We no longer are the two of us! We'll no longer be the two of us!"

"Because of Gaku?"

"Yes!"

"You regret it? Already? After only one day?"

"I don't... Argh!"

Even with her back to her, Reena could see that Isolina was hopping up and down with rage, or some other form of powerful and unhappy emotion. The green-eyed woman needed to know. She stopped her hand, which was running through her black hair for the umpteenth time, grabbing her by the wrist. She tried to make her turn towards her, but Isolina resisted and only turned halfway.

"What?" she urged her. "Tell me!"

"No…"

"Isolina, I need you to tell me if you want me to help you!"

"But I don't want to!"

"Why? Because now that Gaku is here, you can't talk to me anymore?"

"Stop it."

"Because now that Gaku is here, I'm not yours anymore?"

"Stop talking."

"Because now that Gaku is here…"

"Reena, shut up!"

She pushed her abruptly against the door, and continued:

"Don't talk about it, not here, not him. Here it's for us, just for the two of us..."

"Okay…"

The airbender lowered her voice instantly. She knew that voice... It was the voice of the dark days, the one of the dirty demon who comes out to freshen up outside of its cave. She suspected that Isolina was holding it back, holding back her fears and apprehensions, but she had to be sure of it, she had to know how critical the situation was. And there they were on the threshold just before the breakdown... It didn't look good.

She was even more convinced of it when her lover's eyes, filled with cloud, came to meet hers. It was one of those days…

"Good," Isolina replied a little cruelly.

And instead of letting go and pulling away, she pushed Reena even harder against the door, almost crushing her with her body. She selfishly took possession of her lips, which she abused and bit into as she pleased.

Oh yeah, it was one of those days… Isolina wasn't usually violent or domineering. It was even quite the opposite and she loved for Reena to take care of her and to satisfy her. But there were times when she lost her mind. Reena wouldn't say she took revenge on her, that wouldn't be right, since usually she hadn't done anything to deserve it. But she was releasing her pain on her, and in the end, they both ended up feeling it, even if it was in very different ways.

Reena was even more convinced when Isolina bit her clavicle unconditionally. She held back a cry of pain and simply closed her eyes. She knew what was going to happen… She was going to let her have her wicked way with her, a very wicked way. But she was the woman she loved, and she just needed it.

So she let herself be pushed around when Isolina rushed her to the bed, one hand enclosing her neck, her mouth devouring hers, and her body imprisoning hers.

"Maybe let me take my clothes off? Last time you tore them…"

She got an intense glare.

"Or not…"

Still, Isolina moved back enough for her to do so and waited for her girlfriend to get completely naked in front of her eyes.

"Come on, come here," she told her when she was done.

So Isolina got back on top of her. Reena tried to take off her clothes as well, but she earned a sort of growl of dissatisfaction.

"You know very well I don't like it when you do it dressed up."

"Fine…"

Isolina removed her clothes in no time at all and resumed her activity.

Damn, she was in a foul mood… The night was going to be long to calm her down and allow her to sleep. Reena hoped her body wasn't going to abandon her… Luckily, they were still young. One day, she would no longer be able to endure this desperate brutality. But they still had time. A few more decades.

"I love you," Reena whispered into her ear as she was appropriating her body.

"I know."

"And I'm all yours."

"You'd better be. I won't let you."

"I'm not leaving."

"Good."

She would have to repeat it to her overnight, she knew it was good for her to hear these words, that she needed it. She knew that Isolina forgot them when she was scared and she needed reassurance, she needed to make sure she was still there for her, that's why she made love to her that way—even if it hurt them. They just had to resist the pain, just for one night, both of them…

* * *

The next day, Isolina was sitting on the bed, ready for the day. Her back was against the head of the bed and her legs were crossed. She waited, staring at the door, tense. There was a basin of water next to her and Reena still sleeping, lying on her stomach and hugging the cushion on which her head rested.

The airbender woke up, her companion did not move. Why did she feel like her body was so sore?

"You're already awake? And it's been a long time obviously… Is it late?"

"It's not."

Apparently, she still wasn't very willing to talk… Reena noticed the basin anyway. She frowned.

"What is it?"

"It's for you. To… heal you… I'm so sorry, Reena… For last night… I…"

"It's nothing."

"Nothing, you say? Of course it's not!..."

"We've done that before, it doesn't matter."

"I don't think you realize how serious it is though."

"I do. I love you. Everything is fine."

"It's not fine. Get up."

She actually tried to get up. She had to hold back a grimace, which Isolina noticed easily.

"My muscles are just a little tired. It's happened a lot of times when you make me love a little too… violently…"

"If it were only that… Look…"

Isolina lifted her brown hair so she could see the long scratches tangling on her back.

"You clang too much to me, that's all…"

"And what's the excuse for this one?"

She showed her a huge scratch that stretched from her hip to her chest.

"Same one."

"Okay, okay, and for the bruises?"

"What bruises?"

She showed her bruises she had on her arms, back, hips, thighs and chest.

"They're just hickeys..."

"No, these are not hickeys. And you know it."

She showed her bites, too many bites.

"It just looks like I... beat you..."

"You didn't beat me, you made love to me."

"It's no longer love when it comes to that point. Stop pretending and saying it was all normal! It's not! I heard you scream, even if you try to hold back. I saw the tears in your eyes. And I heard you whimper all night. So don't tell me that I made love to you when I made you suffer!"

"Isolina, this is not the first time... I know you are not in your normal state when you do this..."

"The sheets are stained... with your blood. It's the first time I've gone this far... And I don't want you to suffer because of me, let alone by me."

"It's the only way you've found."

"The only way?"

"To make me feel the pain inside of you. I'm glad you share it with me, and it does hurts me, but it's better that we both suffer rather than you alone, right?"

"You are an idiot."

"Take off your clothes."

"What?"

Despite her pains, Reena straddled her girlfriend and kissed her.

"I told you to take off your clothes..."

She kissed her on the neck and started kissing her chest, but Isolina gently pushed her away, though she was afraid of hurting her by doing so.

"Reena, now is really not a good time... It's serious and I really don't want to..."

"Exactly!"

Reena straightened up and planted her sparkling green eyes in Isolina's more troubled ones. She had just missed something obviously... But what?

"Huh?"

"You don't feel like it, so you don't want to. Did I ever tell you that I didn't want you to do to me what you did to me? If I had wanted to avoid this even once, I would have done so, I would have told you to stop, but I didn't."

Isolina chuckled.

"Yeah, because you can't."

"Why can't I?"

"You know very well that if you do that, I would be so upset with you and it would hurt me a lot."

Reena frowned. She got out of bed and headed for the bathroom that they had next to the bedroom.

"You're saying nonsense. I'm going for a bath. Join me if you want to heal me."

"Reena…" Isolina gently scolded, believing that this conversation was not over.

"I'm waiting for you…"

"Reena, Gaku will eventually wake up…"

"I don't care! He'll wait. And if you want to tell me about him, it'll be in the bathroom! We said we must not talk about him in the bedroom!"

"That was last night, and..."

"In the bathroom!"

"You're so irritating sometimes... "

But they needed to continue this discussion and Reena needed to be healed, so she told herself that Gaku would wait. Anyway, he would certainly not dare to come to their room and he would have fun with the mattress if he was bored...

So she undressed and joined Reena in the bathroom. The latter was filling the bathtub. She did not hesitate to enter it, even though the water was still a little cold and the bathtub was not full. Isolina snuck up behind her. Normally, she preferred to be in front of her, or against her chest, but under these circumstances, it was more convenient in order to heal her. She started the treatment as soon as she was inside. Reena hummed with contentment.

"See, just for that, it was worth it... It's super nice."

"Oh, so you want me to hit you more often? That way I can heal you more often."

"You didn't hit me yesterday..."

"It's all the same…"

They were silent for a while.

"Are you going to explain to me why you were not well yesterday? It would be the least you can do after this night, don't you think?"

"It was just... weird..."

"And it upsets you that much?"

"I'm terrified, Reena. We expected it. But I just wanted it to be fine and to go well, and... I need you..."

She had dropped the water she was bending for a moment to press her forehead against the back of her partner and surround her with her arms. The airbender stroked her forearm to reassure her.

"I know. But it's going to be fine... You can talk to me, you have to talk to me, if you want to avoid that again."

"But you can't help me... You can't erase my fears, I can't do it myself, and I'm... alone..."

"You're never alone. You'll never be alone. You have me, you have your mothers, you have all the people who know and love you, and now you have Gaku."

"But you see, that's exactly the problem! You are ready to make him part of the family, like that, directly, as if it were that easy!"

"But you too. This morning, you thought of him before you thought of us when you said he could wake up. You didn't collapse, you put on a mask to make him feel good even if you weren't feeling well. You are already making efforts, you want it to work, and it will work."

"I don't want to live with this mask all the time, always making efforts, it will be unbearable."

"It's just for a little while."

"What if it lasts longer?"

"Then take a break; take a break and come back."

"Far from you?"

"Yes."

"I don't want to…"

"You may not have to do it."

Isolina resumed the healing process. They stayed in the bath a few minutes after that, enjoying the hot vapors of the bath. Then Reena spoke again, thinking about the rest of the day:

"Do you want to see him this morning or are you going to go straight to the clinic? Do you want me to take care of him?"

"Please..."

"Are you coming home late tonight?"

"I don't know... Maybe I'll visit my mothers…"

"Okay."

Reena turned around and kissed Isolina on the forehead, a hand caressing her cheek.

"I'm here for you. Nothing has changed. You are my partner, my lover, the most important person of my life. Do what you need to do, I'll be there anyway."

"Thanks, Reena. I love you."

"Me too."

And the day went on like this, according to the plans they had agreed on that morning.

—

"Isolina?"

Asami found her daughter on the porch of her door. She walked up to her, which gave her time to get up, rubbing her hands against each other and blowing on them to warm up. It was still a little cold at night, which was why the businesswoman did not understand her presence outside of her house.

"Hi, Mum," she said, putting her hands in her pockets, her head tucked into her shoulders, like a guilty teenager.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was waiting for you."

"And you didn't get home?"

"No, I wanted to see you…"

"I mean inside the mansion. You have a spare key, right? Why are you waiting outside?"

"I forgot them at home this morning... I kinda was in a hurry..."

"Okay…"

Asami was not yet searching for the answers to the dozens of questions that flowed through her head, and unlocked the door. They went inside and got rid of their stuff: a briefcase for Asami, a satchel for Isolina.

"Mom hasn't come home yet?"

"She should have. I guess she'll be here soon... She was a little tired of coming home before me this week, and you know your mother, it must be some kind of sulky revenge."

Isolina nodded and followed her mother into the kitchen.

"Have you eaten?"

"Nope."

It was past 8:30 p.m., it was dark, she had normally eaten by this time, and she had to admit that she was awfully hungry. Asami got out what she needed to make some food quickly and stared at her daughter, leaning on the furniture, while the water boiled.

"So... is there something wrong? Not that I'm not happy to see you, but apparently something's bothering you."

"N-No... I wanted to see you... both you..."

"No particular reason?"

"Not really?..."

"And you left Reena alone… just like that? Or is she out with friends?"

"She is not alone…"

Okay... So she decided to beat around the bush. Either she didn't want to talk to her about it, or she was waiting for Korra to come home. Anyway, she was not going to worm the truth out her, so she prepared something edible, although it wouldn't be too heavy given the time.

Her wife arrived a few minutes later. Asami greeted her with a plate which she put in her hands and a hard look as soon as she crossed the threshold of the door. Then the Avatar looked up and met her daughter's silhouette; she saw she was eating on the sofa.

"Oh, Isolina... You... were you passing by? Are you alone?"

"Yeah... Reena's busy... with something... important." She sighed. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Shouldn't I rather be the one asking you, little puppy? You rarely come out of the blue..."

"I…"

In the meantime, Korra and Asami had joined her by the sofa, without sitting by her side. They put their plates down and knelt in front of her.

"Okay, what's wrong?"

"You are grandmothers."

The two women frowned and looked at each other before looking back at their daughter.

"We are going to be grandmothers or we _are_ grandmothers."

"You are grandmothers, right now!"

"Isolina, sweetie, I know that you and Reena talked about adopting and that it was coming soon, but since you didn't exactly keep us informed..."

"It's... my fault... I asked Reena not to say anything... precise. He arrived yesterday. Gaku. His name is Gaku."

"Oh, now I understand better how my parents felt," Korra couldn't help but comment.

Asami rolled her eyes and flicked her arm which earned her an "ow!" Then, she significantly directed her green eyes at their daughter to point out that it was not exactly the time for such remarks.

"And it didn't go well?" Asami asked gently.

"It did... He's an angel. He's kind and malicious. And I wanted to... see you... But maybe I'll... go..."

Mutual agreeing, Korra and Asami rushed to their daughter's neck and locked her in a warm and maternal embrace. Isolina sighed with contentment. They always knew what she needed.

"How did you handle this?" she asked them. "Accepting this change so quickly... Accepting me."

They moved back a bit and Asami took her daughter's hand in hers to answer her.

"It was progressive. We hadn't really planned to adopt you, but we loved you so much, how could we have done otherwise? Our lives have changed, but they have changed for the best, because we did it out of love for you."

"Yes, well, I'm the one who should say that," Korra intervened. "You were ready to welcome her! Not me!"

"Oh, and how did you handle it, Madame Sato?"

"I prefer Avatar Korra, but since you insist, it was the same for me. But it was a little strange at the beginning anyway..."

"Can I stay over tonight?" Isolina asked, as if she didn't care about the conversation and wanted to get away from the weird thing that Korra was talking about.

"Of course. Won't Reena worry?"

"She knows I'm here…"

"Okay."

Korra and Asami tried to comfort Isolina a little more, but seeing that she had decided not to pay much attention to them and that she preferred to mop up, they acted as if they were ignoring her and chatted while watching her out of the corner of their eyes.

"Can I sleep in my old room?"

"Yep. We just need to find sheets, right?"

"I'll get you some."

Asami and Korra went upstairs and found sheets to make their daughter's bed. She stood at the door and looked at the foot of the bed. When her mothers came back to her and asked if she had everything she needed, she nodded.

"I miss her... This room is not the same without her... I don't even know if I'm going to be able to sleep..."

Korra's eyes veiled in sadness. She gave her daughter a weak smile.

"I miss her too. If you can't sleep... come to us."

"Yes, your mother snores as much as Naga, it could soothe you," Asami joked slightly.

The Avatar laughed lightly instead of replying. It didn't bother her that Asami joked—even about this subject—but herself was quite incapable of childishness when talking about her late best friend. On the other hand, Isolina did not react. She just walked into the room and tried to find comfortable pajamas among the few things she had left in here with Reena.

Her two mothers went out and closed the door behind them, heading straight for their bedroom.

"Well, our little puppy doesn't look in good shape," Korra said.

"That's for sure... I think I'll call Reena, to find out exactly what's going on."

"Now?"

"The earlier, the better? Besides, I don't think Isolina really planned to spend the night here, I would rather Reena know where she is."

"Okay…"

Korra never really agreed when Asami got involved in Isolina's business, she was more reserved. But she had to admit that she was curious and worried too, so surely that was for the best. Nevertheless, they took the time to prepare for the night, deciding that it would be fine for them to stay in their room for the evening as Isolina was at home.

"It's the same as when she was little..." Korra said nostalgically.

"Hmm?"

"When she went to sleep and we knew she was going to have a nightmare, so we stayed in our room."

"Yes, that's right, it looks a bit like that."

When they were ready to go to bed, Korra slipped under the covers and Asami left to look for the phone. However, while leaving the room, she came across Isolina who was about to knock on the bedroom door.

"Hey..."

"Hey. Your mother is in bed, you can join her. I'm coming in a few minutes. "

Isolina bowed her head as if she were a little ashamed and guilty that one guessed her thoughts so well, but she said nothing more and passed her mother to slip into the bed next to the blue-eyed woman.

Asami didn't pay attention to them yet, she had to tell Reena.

—

Reena had just put Gaku to bed. It was past 9:30 p.m. It was already quite late. He asked after Isolina and wanted to wait for her, but eventually fell asleep. She had taken him to his bed and started to do some tidying up when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Reena? It's Asami."

"Ah, hi, Asami, how are you?"

"Fine. I'm fine, what about you?"

"Very good. I guess that Isolina stays with you for the night?"

"Yes… She doesn't feel very good."

"How much?"

"I was going to ask you."

"Did she explain everything to you?"

"About Gaku? Yes, she explained. Congratulations, by the way."

"Thank you."

There was a little silence. They were both wondering about what would happen next. Isolina was not doing well, then what?

"I was the one who told her to visit you," the airbender said. "She didn't feel at home when she's at home, so I figured it might help her to be with you... that she would feel a little bit safer."

"You did well. We'll do what we can."

"Thank you. I'm sorry for... all of that... She said she was ready, I wanted to believe her, but it turns out that she is not."

"We're never ready, Reena. It's not all done yet. With a little time..."

"Yes, that's what I hope too... I won't give it up. I'll take care of her even if she doesn't want to."

"Alright. I'm reassured in this case. I just wanted to have news from you and give you some, so I guess I'll leave you. Good night."

"Good night to you too!"

They then hung up. Reena sighed. It was going to be complicated for the next few days, maybe even the next few weeks... She didn't know if her partner was going to come back the next day, for how long, if her bed was going to be empty and cold for a long time, frequently... She knew that she had to be strong for both of them for now, and for Gaku. Someone had to take care of the kid.

However, spending the day alone away from her partner had exhausted her. She was like a magnet who despaired of not having enough magnetism to pull of its other half back to itself... But hey, being strong for both of them... It was her fault anyway, she had to find a solution to all of this and she would find one.

—

While the businesswoman made the call, mother and daughter were in the marriage bed. They were both looking at the ceiling. Korra was hesitant to speak or to do something. She felt the tension in her daughter's body, although it tended to decrease as she absorbed the cozy comfort of the bedroom.

Finally, the blue-eyed woman turned to look at her daughter's resigned face. She had drawn features, she was frowning and looked depressed. Deep in thoughts, she still noticed her mother's look on her.

"What?" she asked.

"I was planning to sleep naked tonight," Korra tried to joke, pretending to be really annoyed.

"Ugh, I don't want to know what you and Mum do when I'm not around."

Isolina shook her head as if to pull out of her mind the evocative images that her brain had instantly created. Korra was delighted to have had a whole sentence and decided to keep joking. Maybe it would cheer her up for a moment.

"Oh, but I want to know what you and Reena do when _we_ 're not around! You're both young, you may have some new things to teach us!"

"Mom!" Isolina reprimanded, outraged.

Asami returned at that moment. She quickly noticed that the lethargy had been blown by a reviving energy. She saw mischief in her wife's eyes and instantly knew what was going on when she saw the slight annoyance on her daughter's face. Korra noticed her and decided to have her take part in this picturesque situation, with the feeling that she had understood her game.

"Oh, honey, you have a good timing, we were talking about sex."

"We were not talking about sex," the young blue-eyed woman growled.

"Ah, if we're talking about sex, I'm interested!" she said, entering the game. "Besides, we should talk your mother's first time..."

"Asami, you can't!" Korra tensed, though she wasn't really afraid that her wife would betray their secret... Well, probably...

Alerted by her mother's reaction, Isolina judged that the time for a teasing revenge had arrived. She then pretended to really want to lay hands on this so heavy and humiliating secret...

"Oh, but _I_ 'm interested now!"

"Of course, in exchange you tell us about your first time," Korra intervened to discourage her. The effect was immediate. "And then, Asami, you can get started too, nobody is stopping you."

"Alright, then. It was..."

"I don't want to know!" their daughter stopped her, really thinking that discussing the possible discussion was funnier than having the discussion itself. Then, it would be more embarrassing than anything else... "We were not talking about sex to begin with!"

The other two women laughed at their daughter's reaction. There, it suited her better like that. Her puppy dog eyes were gone for a moment.

"Okay, fine, we weren't talking about sex," Korra conceded in a soft voice. "But I'm telling you we're missing an interesting conversation."

"You bet…"

Asami smirked at that, which didn't go unnoticed by her wife, who narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Isolina watched their silent dialogue while looking successively from one to the other, then sighed.

"You two are beyond help..."

To prove it, they showered her with a thousand kisses and hugs, with a few tickles by the way. Surrounded by so much radiant carelessness and kindness, the young woman became a child again. She gave in to the most wonderful laugh and, after being breathless and calming down, she ended up falling asleep right next to her mothers, a smile on her lips.

"Isn't she a little too old for this kind of things?" Korra quipped, as she slept.

"Ah, it's only once in a while..."

"She'll always be our big baby, anyway!"

"That's for sure..."

They managed to exchange a last kiss, then fell asleep each on their own. Korra had the weight of their daughter on her side but she did not fail to surround her with her protective arms. Yes, she would always be safe with them, she would always have a home and a family to go back to when she was not feeling well. And for now, that was what she needed.


	7. A Child's Play — Part 3 (FIN)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things finally settle down...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> I'm sorry it took so long, but here is the final chapter of this story. No more side stories or bonuses, or whatever after that.
> 
> So, I'll let you enjoy this big last chapter and we'll talk at the end, okay?
> 
> Have a good read!

When Isolina woke up in her mothers bed, she felt like a teenager, even a child. Except that she worked now. That's why she had barely opened her eyes when she stormed into the kitchen.

"Why didn't you wake me up!" she called out to Asami, grabbing a piece of fruit in the process.

"You looked tired..."

"Thing is I have a patient in less than thirty minutes!"

"Couldn't you take a few days off and rest a little?"

"Got no time!"

She got out of the room hurriedly, a piece of fruit in her mouth and a cup in her hand. Asami sighed. Yet, she was slightly amused. Her daughter gave her a strange reflection of herself from the time Korra would keep her to bed for whatever reason and she would have a meeting in the morning.

Said Korra came over to kiss her before leaving for work. She told her she would be home soon enough tonight. Implied: "You better be there". The businesswoman smiled knowingly at her.

For her part, Isolina tried to have some sort of breakfast as she arrived in her room. She was still eating while she looked in her cupboards to find something to wear. She just thought to herself that she should update the wardrobe she had at the mansion… Still she managed to find something pretty decent and professional, then slipped into the shower after consuming her tea.

Just a few minutes later, she was back in the kitchen. She put her mug in the sink, put the pit of her fruit in the trash and grabbed her satchel to go to work.

"See you tonight, Mum!"

"Don't you want me to drop you off?" the businesswoman offered.

"No!"

She paused, reconsidering the question.

"Actually, why not. You're leaving soon?"

"Right now?"

"Right now, that's fine with me!"

Asami shook her head with a smile. She took her things and went to switch on her car. They quickly arrived at the clinic.

"Do you want me to pick you up tonight?" the green-eyed woman suggested before leaving.

"I... No, it's okay. I might come home… late. I have to go get some stuff from home."

"Okay. See you tonight then, or tomorrow. Unless you want to see me during the day..."

"Thanks, Mum. See you later."

Asami stepped on it, Isolina entered her clinic, taking on her professional and warm mask. She barely had time to consult the organization of the day when her patient arrived. She invested in her job enough not to think of anything else until she left before 10pm. It took a long time to get home, she hoped that Reena and Gaku were sleeping.

She had considered going home and not to her mothers for a moment. But the anguish she felt at the thought of it had got the better of every ounce of her will and she had preferred to take shelter in her childhood home for a while. She just needed to get a few things, that's why she had to go. And she didn't need to meet anyone for that.

Finally, giving up all fight with her fears, she made a huge detour: she watched a nighttime street performance, went to listen to the birds singing in a park and had a drink. It was past midnight when she finally arrived at her destination.

She sighed feverishly as she slowly turned her key in the lock, trying not to make any noise. She slipped into the house, wondering if she could get some clothes from her room and things from her office without waking up Reena…

"You're back!" a small voice exclaimed.

Not having noticed the small figure in the shadows of the kitchen, the waterbender jumped with a muffled noise. Something exploded.

"Oh damn, I'm sorry!"

Isolina rushed over to the little boy who had a glass of water in his hand, or rather the pieces of glass that remained. It had apparently exploded under the pressure of the water in it.

"Don't you make a move, okay?"

Isolina turned on the faucet and removed all the pieces of glass that had accidentally stuck in the child's hands. He didn't say anything, he just watched her do it, wide-eyed. The water glistened as it healed the slight wounds he had on his hands.

"This is so cool! Can you do it again?" he asked excitedly.

"Shhh, shhht, please. Talk less loudly," she whispered.

"Can you do it again?" he whispered, still excited.

Isolina sighed. If her aim was discretion, she completely missed it. She made the water shine, and it reflected in the little boy's astonished eyes. She was almost touched. Almost, because her heart was pounding at a terribly high rate because of her… crashing entrance.

"Why did you leave?" he asked.

"I had to see someone."

"Why?"

"Because it was important."

He nodded.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" she suddenly realized.

"I was thirsty."

"You know that if you drank during daytime, you wouldn't be thirsty at night, right?"

"I missed you!"

She raised an eyebrow, puzzled. How did this relate to conversation? Why such a blunt statement?

"Me? Why?"

"I don't know, duh! I missed you!"

He threw himself into her arms.

"You're not going to go back, are you?"

She was very confused. Why did this child become attached to her? Did he really care about her anyway?

"I am…" she said hesitantly, pushing him away a bit.

"Why?" he asked, immediately displaying a sad and defeated look.

"I have to go see my moms, they need me."

Good, she had just lied to a child. However, the latter did not notice and simply exclaimed:

"You have two mothers too!"

"Yes me too…"

So he considered her to be his mother… No wonder they had adopted him. Well, in theory. Because in practice... how the hell did he come to terms with this whole situation so quickly? Was she the only one who was pathologically incapable of being a little bit comfortable? Eventually, her little talk with Gaku was starting to irritate and frustrate her.

"You should go back to sleep," she said gently even though she tried to get rid of him to finish her mission.

"Say... do you have to go?"

She nodded.

"But can't you stay with us? I like it when you're around."

"I'll be back. Soon."

Probably soon. She hoped soon. Maybe later. But he didn't need to know that this was an indefinite situation.

"Okay," he said, pouting.

"Alright, go to bed."

"Will you kiss me?"

She kissed him swiftly on the cheek, hoping he was going to go quickly, but it wasn't over. He turned around, going in the direction of his room; Isolina got up to go to her own room; then, Gaku walked back and threw himself at the legs of the waterbender. She was unsettled and almost fell, but kept her balance.

"Gaku…" she whispered, her voice plaintive and confused.

What to say to this little being who was clinging to her? Was it because she was leaving and he wanted her to stay?

"Can I call you 'Mom'?"

Isolina frowned. Where did this indiscreet question come from?

"Why?" she asked.

"Because that means you'll come back! And after you'll stay!"

The young waterbender was sincerely trying to figure out the logic, but she failed. She crouched down hard and ruffled the young boy's hair, who raised his globular green eyes to her. She smiled at him and he suddenly looked less dejected.

"Can you explain this to me?" she asked.

"They said that the day when I can stay, I will be able to say "mom" and "dad"."

"Who are "they"?"

"The other adults."

"You've lived with other adults before, right? Foster homes?"

He nodded.

"A lot?"

"A little…"

"And you didn't like it?"

"I did... Sometimes people were nice, it was better than being on the street. But it wasn't my family… They said they couldn't."

"This is normal, these are temporary solutions," Isolina said, like a school teacher.

So he looked at her with his puppy dog eyes and she knew that wasn't necessarily the right thing to say.

"But not us," she hastened to add.

She had held her breath as she said that. She was still holding it when Gaku smirked, his eyes twinkling, and he jumped on her neck. So, hugged by the young child, she allowed herself to breathe gently and relax.

"It means yes?" he asked, pulling back a little.

"I… uh… N… Yes?"

Ugh, just that answer pained her like hell. She felt like a searing headache could tear her skull any minute now and even that her heart would pack its bags and leave the arteries it was attached to.

The child did not notice her confusion, he jumped to her neck once again and hopped back towards his room. She stood there, motionless like a stone statue. The child looked in her direction one last time with a smile before closing the door.

Well, at least she was alone. Was it a good thing that she was alone? She wasn't sure that was the case. Air, she needed air. No, she wasn't going to have a panic attack, out of the question.

She slumped back against the kitchen furniture and curled up. She wanted to cry. How was it that she had perfect self-control in front of the kid and collapsed afterwards? Couldn't she just hold on?

She was frustrated, and she was in pain, and she just wished she could have walked through the house like a thief and left. Not meeting anyone.

However, strange as it might sound, she was strangely content and serene. It was just a vague part of herself, a tiny part that didn't give in to the pain and anguish, but she felt it. Maybe it was because Gaku was a bit like her after all, that she could understand this little boy and the importance her family had for him. Maybe it was because he strangely reminded her of Reena.

Oh, he wasn't quite like her. She felt that all this energy and good humor wasn't just in his nature. It hid his abandonment, it was his way of facing the world, but at least he did so with optimism.

She would have liked to have had that optimism, but the wounds she had hadn't allowed her to. Or maybe she hadn't been strong enough. No, no one should go through what she had been through. Abandonment wasn't her biggest injury. No, that had been a stab. But after that, this scar had been pierced every day, then the wound was opened even wider by twisting the knife, pushing it deeper and deeper in it. Then it was let infected. And in order to survive, she had had to get rid of that rottenness sticking to her soul and part of herself in the process.

They weren't the same scars, but she could understand Gaku. She didn't wish him _that_. She didn't wish him to be abandoned long enough to be mistreated and reduced to ashes.

They could be phoenixes, they could really be, but at what cost really? Every time they were reborn, they lost a little of themselves. They also gained a lot, of course. The key was to always gain more than you could lose and never to remain as ashes. As for her, she dreaded this moment with all her heart, she shuddered with all her being and her whole soul was shaken.

But Gaku was not like that, he wasn't much afraid of the fall yet. Yes, he was scared, but he should never be as scared as she was. Never. He had to stay with her for that. And that was her reason for being his… mother… Even though it hurt right now and she had to go. Eventually she would realize that this reason was more important, that she would have to stop being afraid, right?

She remained on the ground for a moment. Then she decided to get up. She hadn't hyperventilated, she hadn't cried. She was a little uneasy and sullen, it was true, but she hadn't fallen yet. So she would get over with what she had to do, she would go to sleep, and she would feel better.

She went to her room, glanced at Reena who was in the bed. She opened the cupboards and stuffed a few things into a bag. She took very few of them, after all it was quite easy to do laundry when you were a waterbender and she was in a rush. She just needed to be able to dress appropriately for work and have enough clothes for a week or two.

She almost left straight away, but she looked at Reena again. She approached her gently and leaned to her ear.

"I know you're awake and heard it all," she told her.

It wasn't too hard to guess. She was breathing way too fast for someone asleep. Besides, Isolina was an expert bloodbender, she could feel the presence of any water being around her if she wasn't distracted. Most of the time, she didn't care. She hadn't noticed Gaku because he was small and she didn't expect to have him underfoot, but she had noticed Reena getting up as soon as she had burst the glass because she had heard her walk. After that, she noticed she was behind the door, because she wondered why she wasn't coming in.

She didn't let her reply and left faster than she had arrived.

Sitting up on her bed, Reena sighed. She got caught. But hey, she wasn't unhappy that she had eavesdropped. It allowed her to hear from her partner even if the latter did not inform her voluntarily. She looked a little better than last time. She was slightly more stable, she had understood that she was coming to terms with certain perspectives a little better, but she needed time and space... Okay.

She was going to give her time and space, but not too much either. Let's not exaggerate. She was planning on meeting with her during the week, during her working hours, so that there would be no Gaku. She would make a scandal in the clinic if necessary, but she would meet her and spend time with her. And knowing Isolina—who was rather discreet about her private life—she wouldn't allow her to make a fuss. It was a great plan. She was going to get used to it gently… It would be fine. It had to. She was all the more convinced that she felt that Gaku and Isolina would get along extremely well deep down, and not just because they had both been orphans.

* * *

The following week, Reena was waiting in the clinic lobby around noon. She figured that Isolina was going to take a lunch break eventually and at that point she would suggest they go eat in the next-door park. She had taken some takeout and a blanket and she wasn't planning on taking her away from work, so hopefully she could convince her.

She had to wait nearly forty-five minutes for her companion to deign to show her presence. In fact, she barely noticed her and walked over to the receptionists to give some instructions and fill out some paperwork.

Reena slipped behind her. Body leaning forward and her linked hands carrying the bag of food behind her back, she blurted like a child:

"Hi!"

Isolina looked up and smiled shyly at her.

"Hi. What are you doing here?"

"I was planning to take you out to eat."

"Hmm… Where?"

"The park just beside the clinic. A sort of improvised picnic."

"Who told you I haven't eaten already?"

"Oh please, we both know very well that you tend to overwork yourself and skip meals."

"In any case, I cannot refuse and any protest from me would be completely in vain, isn't it right?"

"You are completely right. Did you really mean to refuse?"

Reena was puzzled, a little confused and apprehensive at this response. Isolina smiled at her then.

"No. I missed you."

She kissed her gently on the lips. Reena would have told her she missed her too, but sometimes she clearly preferred actions over words. So she prevented her from escaping and running a hand behind her neck, she pulled her back to her lips for a deeper kiss.

"Okay for the picnic," Isolina whispered against her lips.

Reena smiled widely.

Before leaving, Isolina called a nurse and asked her to take care of some Mrs. Chang for her, just the final care and diagnostics to make sure she could leave the hospital. Then she was free.

So she and Reena walked silently to the park. They settled down under a tree and began to eat while initiating the most mundane conversation they could come up with—that is: the various news of the day.

"So? Won't you ask me the question that's on your lips?" Isolina asked, grabbing a bottle of water.

"What question?"

"Are we really going to play this little game?"

"I just came to hear from you and spend some time with you. I miss you too, you know."

"So, you don't care about when I come home?"

"Of course I do care. But I didn't come to put pressure on you, I know it's useless. And even if I asked you the question commonly during a conversation, what are the chances that you answer me without being uncomfortable?"

"Maybe at the end of the week. Or next week."

"Really?"

"Yes."

She seemed sure of herself. It was quite a rare thing, especially when it came to decisions with emotional implications like this. Reena could have been suspicious, but she was just surprised and delighted.

"However, I need to see him first."

"Uh... yes, that is to say?"

"Well, we could eat together one of these evenings or spend an afternoon doing stuff… like a family."

Reena smiled at the last words spoken. She was putting goodwill into it, probably all the goodwill she could find.

"And we also need to eat at the manor one of these nights. My mothers will kill me if I don't introduce Gaku to them."

The airbender laughed.

"Yeah, I think it's better."

"And maybe after… we'll get back home together and… everything will be fine, right?"

Reena just smiled and moved closer to her. She reassured her with a kiss and, moving even closer, ended up tipping her under her. So she put a lock of hair behind her ear, giving her a flaming smile.

"Everything will be fine. I promise."

Even though Isolina was still a little scared, she managed to give her a feverish smile, which soon disappeared under the hungry lips of her companion.

"And then, that way I can finally make love to you and stop being frustrated," she added.

Isolina rolled her eyes.

"You gotta be kidding me... That's all you're interested in, uh? Actually, you didn't miss me, you just missed my body."

"No, that's not true, I missed you a bit too..."

In retaliation, Isolina pinched her arm.

" _Ouch_!" the Airbender falsely took offense.

"'A 'bit? That's all you deserve, you savage."

She had missed their little bickering too. And it was with a smile on her face that she kissed Reena again, clinging to her body and her clothes. She could say whatever she wanted, she had missed that too. But hey, they were still in a public park there. Besides, now was not the right time, at all.

"I'll have to get back to work," Isolina whispered against her lips.

"Not already," her companion whimpered.

"Hmm, I think it's better, because I have some concerns about what will happen next..."

"I have no concerns at all."

"I would have guessed."

"Don't you have bed stuff in your clinic?"

"Reena!"

"What?"

"It's medical equipment!"

"So what?"

Isolina sighed. She kissed her quickly one last time before pulling away from the embrace.

"So you can wait a little longer and I have some work to do."

"You're not funny. You used to be more adventurous..."

"Ha!" Isolina exclaimed wryly. "Yes of course. Remind me who is the cause of all the thoughtless decisions I've made in my life? And because of who did we find ourselves making love in unusual places?"

"I don't know what you're talking about at all."

"Right, you're as innocent as you look."

They smiled at each other at the recollection of these shared memories.

"I'll be more responsible now. You can count on me, I promise."

They knew they weren't talking about making love anymore, but about something much more serious.

"Thank you," the young waterbender replied. "And I had a really good lunch break."

She kissed her one last time, making sure not to stay too long.

"I'll phone you tonight. Love you."

She added nothing more and left. Reena sank back onto the picnic blanket. She could stay there a little longer, her lunch break wasn't about to end yet. She sighed a little, but kept a smile on her face. It had gone well, even very well. If luck was on their side, they could quickly decide of a moment for all of them to meet when they were on the phone, then Isolina would come home and life would resume… With Gaku as a part of it, this time.

* * *

Finally, they had opted for dinner at the end of the following week. That way, they could kill two birds with one stone and invite Reena's family as well. But while waiting for this long-awaited evening (albeit with a bit of excitement), nothing prevented Isolina, Reena and Gaku from spending time together.

So during those two weeks, the three of them went out. Sometimes they would go to parks and talk, sometimes they would stroll through Republic City, sometimes they would go to visit important places or eat ice cream. They always had a great time.

That way Gaku could discover this new city and his new living environment while having fun. Isolina could gradually get used to his presence and she learned to relax and behave in more naturally caring ways. And Reena could watch it all and jot each other's behaviors in the back of her mind in order to solve problems later, if there were any problems. Eventually, even Reena learned to relax, since apparently there were no more problems on the horizon.

Basically, these little outings had allowed them to start functioning as three united beings rather than three disparate and disconnected beings. Connections were made, as if they allowed everyone's flow of the life energy to run, while they disturbed the course until now.

It was a slow process, especially for Isolina. This was why she enjoyed these outings so much, as long as she had time to come to terms with them after, to feel their heartwarming nature rather than their scary nature.

She had to test the strength of all the threads that weaved between her and Reena and between her and Gaku; she even had to observe the breaks which had developed on the old threads that united her to her companion. Some were fixing themselves, others had changed, and many other things were new. So she relished being able to place them slowly, one at a time, in a pretty box of safe habits. Tamed, she would no longer be afraid of them, she could live by admitting that they were natural and did not disturb the flow of her life, but on the contrary was part of it. She no longer struggled against the current, she let herself be carried by it and found her rhythm.

Despite this, the thought of going home still made her a little nervous. She knew it was a natural behavior for her: her mind was just reacting to the fact that the anguish she had fled had remained there while she was well with her mothers even though… she preferred to be at home.

It was a little strange for her to go back to living with Korra and Asami. They lived far from downtown, it was hard for her to go to her job, she almost found herself being dependent on her mother again—but luckily, she had a second car in the garage that she could use—and in addition she was being mothered. It was both very cute and horribly irritating, so much so that she couldn't wait to resume her normal life as a free and independent adult.

And the long-awaited day of meetings arrived. Korra, Asami, and Isolina were still in the kitchen, getting done with their dishes, when the doorbell rang.

"I'm on it!" the young woman with blue eyes shouted.

She didn't wait for an agreement before heading for the front door. There she paused for a moment, breathing and running a hand through her raven hair. She put her hand on the doorknob, closed her eyes for a second, before turning it and welcoming Reena, Gaku, Opal and Bolin who were at the door.

A smile took possession of her lips when she saw her family, like this, on the doorstep. Without further ado, she invited them inside and greeted them all. She reserved a kiss for Reena, and hugged Gaku, kissing him on the forehead. Overjoyed, the young boy struggled not to jump during the hug, so he just hugged her even tighter. They had seen each other the day before, but he couldn't wait to see her again anyway!

Opal and Bolin went to say hello to their old friends while Reena, Isolina and Gaku checked on each other (as if they hadn't seen each other the day before, that is…). Then the young waterbender guided them to the living room where the rest of the guests were. She was going to introduce her mothers to Gaku, but he exclaimed, pointing to Korra:

"I know you! You're the Avatar! There was a statue of you in my village before!"

"Ah, finally a child who can recognize important people, unlike our daughter who didn't give a damn..."

Asami rolled her eyes and nudged Korra. She smiled triumphantly, before returning her attention to the little boy.

"And you are Gaku, right?"

He nodded enthusiastically several times, a huge smile splitting his face in two.

"Nice to meet you."

As she had started the conversation, she kept going by introducing Asami, whom he didn't know this time. He had vaguely heard of her, but he had never seen her. And then, well, she was still less impressive than the _Avatar_! Could she enter in the Avatar state for him? They said her eyes turned white and it was scary, but it must be so cool. And... And... she was Isolina's mom? Did that mean she was his grandmother? That was even cooler!

"I think I broke him," Korra said mischievously, noticing the admiring gaze of the young boy that remained glued to her face.

"Oh, but it must be a shock for him to see his heroine in the flesh..."

"You bet!"

The businesswoman let out a small, amused sigh. And as Gaku didn't seem willing to quit her admiring musings, she resumed her discussion with Bolin and Opal.

A few minutes later, he tugged at Isolina's sleeve to lower herself to his level. He whispered in her ear:

"Why didn't you tell me your mom was the Avatar!"

"To be completely honest, I didn't cross my mind."

"But it's super important! She saved the world! And my village."

"Yes… it's right… But Opal, Bolin and Mum… I mean, Asami too. You know, they're part of our family, so we tend to forget to spell that out."

"Still, it's so cool. My grandparents are awesome!"

She chuckled.

"Yeah, that's right, they're awesome."

"But my moms are awesome too!"

She smiled tenderly at him.

"I hope so."

"That means my whole family is awesome!"

"You're lucky, little rascal," Reena said, ruffling her hair.

He gave her one of his best smiles, then hopped over to the gang of heroes that were his grandparents to observe them closely and listen to their discussion—it had to be interesting! Maybe they were telling each other old war stories? It would be so great if they could tell him themselves! Directly at the source!

His mothers looked at him tenderly. There would be no problem with integrating into the family, that was for sure. Reena put an arm around her companion's shoulders and placed a kiss on her temple.

"It goes well."

"Very well."

She paused as she looked at Gaku.

"Thank you. For giving me time. I know I can be difficult to live with."

"I got used to it."

"Don't say I'm wrong, duh!"

"Oh, I had to?"

Isolina just laughed and they also briefly joined in the conversation, as a few minutes later everyone was sitting down to eat.

As Korra proceeded to entertain Gaku (who had seated directly next to her) with old fighting stories which were scary, but which were adapted to his age, and the other guests joined in giving more details (for Opal) or by imitating (or exaggerating) the reactions of the people who were there at the time (for Bolin), Asami and Isolina took care of bringing their food.

The young businesswoman allowed herself to slightly hip-nudge her daughter as she passed; the latter nearly knocked over the dish she was holding in her hands but she managed to catch her mother's gentle and proud gaze. And she was back to being a little girl for a quick moment, she wanted to rush to her arms and hug her very tight. But since that probably wasn't going to be possible with a dish in her hands, she just answered her with a smile.

The evening passed deliciously. Gaku got to know Korra and Asami. He had already been able to spend some time with Opal and Bolin, so he knew them a bit. Of course, he was always happy to learn new things and to hear them tell their battles, but he loved Korra. So, he spent most of the time with her. Then, over the course of a conversation, he ended up saying:

"Why did Isolina have to stay here?"

"She… uh… Can you be a bit more specific?"

"She told me she couldn't stay with me because her moms needed her."

"Aaah, that… Yes… It was… for a very important Avatar mission. I can't tell you much about it, you know: top secret."

"Even to me? But I want to know!"

"Yes, I get it, I really do, but sometimes certain missions are… sensitive."

She saw the defeated on the little boy's face and it pained her. She had lied to him once and now she was refusing to deepen her lie… Maybe she should tell him a nice little story with villains fighting the Avatar and the balance of the world… Oh, she didn't like this position at all. If only his daughter hadn't started tricking this young boy!

"Well, if I tell you about it, will you promise not to tell anyone? Ever. It's a very, very big secret, okay?"

"Sure!" he instantly got enthusiastic.

Great, now making up a story. She didn't exactly have the talent of a storyteller. She had told Isolina a few stories when she was little, but they were often well-known stories that were told from generation to generation, or true stories. She was ultimately pretty bad when it came to making up stories—she probably was a little too down to earth—even if it was about telling a story worthy of an Avatar adventure. And she had lived a bunch of Avatar adventures! Maybe it would be enough to take inspiration from it? Except that she had to include her daughter in it, and she still had little collaboration with Isolina in her life...

"So… It was a very sensitive mission, and we were afraid that there would be many, many injured people, that's why we needed Isolina. She's the best healer, you know?"

"Really? And so, she saved a lot of people?"

"Yes. Lots."

She tried to cut the discussion short, thinking that the child was satisfied, but the expression on his face told her that he clearly wasn't. He was a smart boy and he was dying to have as much detail as in the previous stories. So he expectantly stared at her with his big green eyes.

Korra could only think: "Raava! And now, what do I do?"

"What?" she asked instead.

"Well, I want to know how it was!"

"Ah. Yes… well, we were… There was me, Isolina and… Bolin!"

She called out to him at the same time she talked about him and he turned to her, looking curious.

"Calling me?"

"No, I was talking to Gaku, you know, about our very, very important mission with Isolina."

"What mission?"

Bolin had fabulous storytelling skills, but she needed to get him to understand her ploy and he was a little slow on the uptake sometimes!

"What mission am I talking about in your opinion?" she pretended to be impatient. "The mission, with Isolina, the one that is why she couldn't stay with her family. When we saved a lot of people, especially with her healing gift, and all of that."

"Aaaaaah, you mean, that mission!"

"Yeah, and I'll let you tell, I need a drink."

She quickly slipped away and heaved a sigh of relief as Bolin began a story based on prisoners in a secret dungeon in the Republic of Earth protected by badger moles, which were controlled by a secret society from the Dai Li.

Gaku was a little disappointed that Korra didn't stay and tell him the story but, fascinated by the various fight scenes portrayed to him and held by the suspense, he eventually forgot that his heroine had fled.

"Next time you lie, could you let me know before I hire Bolin to make up a nice lie?" the Avatar joked, teasing her daughter.

"What lie?"

"Oh, an obligation to stay with your mothers for example."

"Ah… yes… I had… um… forgotten."

"You are lucky to have a father-in-law who is also a smooth-talker."

Isolina frowned at her mother's almost joke, her lips pursed.

"Yeah…" Korra said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Anyway. You're leaving tonight then?"

"Yes."

"You're sure you're ready?"

"I have to one day. And I miss my life. Plus, it'll make Gaku happy..."

"Oh, I have no doubt about it. He loves you very much. And he'll love you even more once Bolin finishes telling about your exploits," she sneered.

"Ugh, he's going to imagine things and tell everyone about it..."

"No, I told him it was top secret."

"I'll tell him again…"

"And he will not imagine lies. He does have a great mother."

Isolina looked at her mother, probably to thank her, but deep in her eyes there was still a glimmer of doubt and disbelief.

"Thank you," she stammered.

"You don't have to worry anymore, little puppy. That's how life is, it's how it works, you are perfectly equipped to deal with it. And this child loves you and wants to give you his heart, that's all it takes sometimes. This is what you did with me, it was enough for me to become your mother and want to take care of you. Let it be."

Isolina nodded seriously. She liked having Korra's point of view in this situation. She felt like she understood her better, that she was helping him more than Asami. Surely they were more similar on this point, that was why.

"Isolina! Isolina!" Gaku suddenly cried, rushing at her. "Is it true that you treated fifty people in less than a day?"

"Shhhht, Gaku, we said it was a secret, remember?" Korra said, with a scolding look.

"Uh, fifty, maybe that's a bit of a stretch," the waterbender tried to temper.

"Say, one day will you show me how you do it? Like you did with my hands! It was so pretty!"

"I can't show you this, Gaku. You are a little young to see people injured with lots of blood..."

"Come on! You'll show me when I'm older then!"

"We'll talk about it, I promise. But for now, can't we just stick to cuts?"

"Okay, okay..." he pouted.

He went to sit on the couch with a pout, but he wasn't really angry. He just wanted to sit down somewhere. It was getting late, he was quite tired, although he had shown remarkable energy and tenacity so far. And as the adults continued to chat, Gaku fell asleep.

It took Isolina less than five minutes to notice it. She approached him and saw that he was sound asleep. It made her smile for a moment. She thought he looked different when he slept, but that was probably because for once he was calm. She looked at the time. It was well past 10 p.m., it was surely time to go.

"It's time, I think."

Isolina turned and saw her mother looking at the child tenderly.

"Apparently."

Without warning, Asami then wrapped her arms around her daughter.

"I love you so much. And I'm so proud of you."

"I love you too, Mum."

The businesswoman pulled back and took her daughter's hands in hers.

"I was glad you came over to the manor. If you ever need to, you know the door is wide open."

Isolina nodded.

"And now you have to come by, because I want to see my grandson regularly!"

Isolina smiled and chuckled a little.

"Just saying, but I think he's going to harass you to see Korra again anyway."

"You could come by the house too…"

"Whenever you want."

"I imagine we could use you in case we need someone to take care of him?"

Her mischievous yet haphazard remark was graced with a crystal-clear laugh.

"Let's do that then!"

They smiled at each other, both realizing that a new page was turning and that their families kept growing, evolving, flourishing.

Isolina then announced that she would notify Reena of their imminent departure. They said goodbye to the other adults who had decided to continue talking a bit. And maybe Bolin and Opal would stay for the night in the guest rooms because much to the dismay of their respective wives, the Avatar and the earthbender had started a contest involving small glasses and alcoholic drinks.

They barely took the time to say goodbye to the two women leaving, then they resumed their game. Opal watched them as Asami accompanied her daughter, her daughter-in-law and a sleepy little boy who was rubbing his eyes at the door. She lent the car to Isolina so they could get home quicker, and after some last hugs, the new little family was gone.

Gaku fell back asleep in the car and when they got to her house he felt like he had slept a full night and he was feeling refreshed. Mysteriously, he didn't really want to sleep anymore, which he made clear to his two mothers by not letting them out of his sight. The latter tried to convince him to go back to bed, but they only managed to get him to put on pajamas and brush his teeth. Then he waited on their bed as they got ready for bed.

"Come on, Gaku! You have to go to sleep, otherwise you'll be tired tomorrow," the airbender scolded him gently.

"But I'm not tired!"

"You don't feel like you're tired, that doesn't mean you aren't."

"But I don't want to go to sleep now!"

Reena was about to scold him again, a little harsher this time, but Isolina put a hand on her forearm. She looked at her questioningly. In response, the blue-eyed young woman slipped under the covers next to Gaku.

"Do you want me to tell you a story?"

The little boys' eyes twinkled. He straightened up and waited for the story to begin. Reena, too, slipped under the covers, wondering what story Isolina was going to tell. Apparently Gaku was wondering too since he asked:

"Are you going to tell me a story with Korra?"

"Do you want a story with Korra?"

"Yes!"

"Um… well… When I was little, Korra had a very huge polar bear-dog, she was completely white. Her name was Naga. Everyone was afraid of her because she was huge, but in truth she was very nice. Korra rode her like an ostrich-horse and she looked like a mighty tundra warrior when she put on her Water Tribe clothes. One day, we were at the South Pole, when Naga disappeared. We spent three days looking for her in the whole Southern Water Tribe, we even thought we should go to the Spirit World..."

Thus, she continued her adventure story where Korra, herself and some men and women from the small villages of the south had searched every inch of the tundra, all that fuss for Naga to come back on her own after the fourth day. At first, no one knew why she left. They had realized this later when they noticed the swelling belly of the polar bear-dog, then the little cubs she gave birth to months later.

But before the end of the story, Gaku fell asleep.

"Nice job, now we have to carry him to his room..." Reena moaned.

"No, leave him here."

The airbender looked incredulous.

"I like it. I sometimes slept in my mothers' bed with them when I was little because I couldn't sleep. I want him to be able to do the same. I want him to be as happy as I was growing up with my Mom and Mum."

"I'm sure he'll be very happy," Reena said fondly.

Isolina nodded seriously, then wished her partner good night. As she tried to fall asleep, she thought that having a family, her family, wasn't that bad. Maybe they could foster more children, maybe they could adopt, and maybe she was even starting to want to carry one. She knew that even if she did someday, she wouldn't love Gaku any less, because he was the one with his brilliant personality that had allowed her to change her perspective.

It was thanks to him that she remembered that the people outside her little world were not necessarily the work of evil, on the contrary, they could do so much for her. So maybe thanks to him, she was able to expand her family as well as her heart, by adding friends or other children. It was the joyful innocence of a child that made someone like her believe again in the inside beauty of everyone because they had all been a child at one time and they had all wanted to love and be loved, and that was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! You can leave a comment just below, it'd make me really happy :)
> 
> It's time to put an end to this beautiful (and tiring) adventure. I loved the challenge it was. Not a lot of writers have the chance to write in two different languages and have amazing readers on both sides. I'll always be grateful to the people who helped me correcting my story. I'll be as grateful to the readers who took their time to comment, it helped me keep going even when I felt like giving up.
> 
> I love my characters, I'm glad I created them. I hope you liked them too. And I loved this story, which was the first long non-AU I've ever written. Actually, it was a running joke with a friend of mine that I should do that someday, and I didn't expect to do it because I didn't want to betray either the Avatarverse or the characters. Hopefully, I wasn't as bad as I had imagined x) I love even more this story knowing it might be my last one before a while… Or my very last one.
> 
> I don't know what the future holds, even less in that complicated period of ours. I hope everything will be okay. And I hope that whatever happens, my path will bring me back here, even if it just for little stories :)

**Author's Note:**

> Since we already know each other, you know what I'm gonna ask, right? Leave a review/comment! Well, even if you don't I can at least hope that this stuff is interesting and that you like it!
> 
> I don't know when next chapter will be posted. I'm kinda struggling with the end, but the other ones should be faster to be published.
> 
> See you!
> 
> Lion


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